I Trust You
by beautifulpreservation
Summary: What's that they say about opposites attract? Dr. Elizabeth Cambridge is a history person and sees stars any time someone starts talking science around her. But, that doesn't stop her from falling for Barry Allen. It's a good thing she does too because she may need Team Flash's help figuring out why she gets migraines and visions every time the timeline changes...
1. Do Really Weird Dreams Count?

I rub at my temple again…the persistent headache not going away. "Hey, you okay?" My wonderfully observant boyfriend, Barry Allen, asks quietly.

I nod my head. Barry raises an eyebrow at me, not believing me. "I promise you, I'm fine Barry,"

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Felicity Smoak asks coyly. My head snaps up and looks at her across the table. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," I say before Barry can answer her. "Just Barry being unnecessarily over-protective."

"That I can understand," she says with a smile as she reaches over and pats her boyfriend's, Oliver Queen, arm. Oliver responds to her by nodding his head and giving her a tight smile. I really liked Felicity…Oliver wasn't so bad either. Both of them just happened to be in town and Barry had insisted we all have dinner together so I could meet his friends before they went back to Star City. A little bit later, Felicity and I were both standing at the doorway, waiting on the men while they paid for dinner. "I'm really glad Barry found you." Felicity says suddenly. I turn my head sharply to look at her. "Oh my gosh did I say that out loud?" she says, her eyes widening.

"You did," I say with a chuckle. "But it's okay. Barry has talked very highly of you. So I'm glad I seem to be on your good side." Felicity nods her head as we both look over at Barry and Oliver who were both now walking towards us. "And what is it they say about opposites attracting?" We weren't really that opposite, just in our career fields. I was a history person whereas Barry was a science person.

"Well, that oppositeness helped us on our last case, so I am not complaining," Barry says as he comes up to us and wraps an arm around my waist.

"I hardly helped," I say. "I just gave you some information on a Egyptian Priestess. Not quite a crack detective for the CCPD."

"I'm sure the help was appreciated, none the less," Oliver says. "It was a pleasure meeting you Elizabeth. We have a jet we need to catch though."

We all tell each other good-bye, Felicity shocking me briefly by giving me a hug. As they walk down the sidewalk, we walk the other way. "I had a really good time." I say as Barry's fingers intertwine with mine. "I definitely agree that we should take them up on their offer to visit Star City."

As Barry starts to say something, I let out a wince of pain as my headache reaches full-on migraine level. "Hey, okay, no brushing this off this time." Barry says as we both come to a stop. "What's wrong?"

"I just-" I shake my head, my vision starting to go fuzzy. "I'm getting a migraine. I haven't gotten one in a really long time-"

"Let's get you home then," Barry says, a slight urgency to his voice. I vaguely nod my head as Barry's arm wraps around my waist and he all but leads me home.

I hadn't told Barry all of it though. It wasn't just a migraine coming on…I had been having these strange dreams. They were actually more like nightmares…of being burned alive. But it wasn't just of being burned alive, it was like a force of energy coming through the windows of the museum I worked at, instantaneously burning me alive. It was so realistic too, I was having daydreams of it as well. Once we get back to my apartment, Barry helps me change into some nightclothes, the migraine now basically rendering me useless. "Is there anything I can get you?" Barry asks in a whisper. "Is there any medicine that you-"

"No," I say, shaking my head. "I've never had one this bad. I wouldn't even know what to take." As I tell him that, it pops in my head who would know what to do for me. I pull the pillow out from under my head and place it on top of my head, trying to block out some more light and sound. "Get my phone and call Caitlyn Snow."

"Caitlyn-"

"She's a friend of mine who's a doctor," I tell him. "Call her, tell her what is wrong with me, ask her what to do." Caitlyn and I had been roommates in college. When I had moved to Central City a few months ago, we had reconnected, occasionally meeting up for coffee.

I vaguely hear Barry talking on the phone to Caitlyn. A minute later, I feel him sit on the bed next to me, a hand gently resting on my hip. "Hey, she's going to bring over some medicine for you." I mumble something that was supposed to come out as 'thank you'. "I'm going to get you a glass of water. She said to make sure you keep hydrated." I nod my head, giving Barry a weak thumbs up as I feel him stand up from the bed.

* * *

- _Barry's POV-_

I opens the door after hearing Caitlyn knocking at the door. "Where is she?" Caitlyn asks in a whisper as I shut the door behind her. Elizabeth had no clue I actually knew Caitlyn. I knew the two women knew each other, but it was still a shock when she asked me to call her.

"She's in her room…asleep I think," I say. "She…this migraine just hit her really fast. I'm really worried about her Cait."

"I know Barry," she says, giving me a small smile. "I'll take care of her. Don't worry." I nod my head as she walks back towards Elizabeth's room.

* * *

- _Elizabeth's POV-_

"Elizabeth?" I hear Caitlyn's soft voice whisper. I groan in response. "Good, you're still conscious. I brought some stuff to make you feel better." I groan in response again. "I'm also just going to check your vitals, okay?" All she gets in response is another groan. I do let out a yelp of pain when I feel an i.v. suddenly go into my arm. "Sorry, you need to stay hydrated though. I also put a piggyback on it with some medicine that'll help."

"At least you've gotten better at doing those since college," I say weakly. I had a couple scars on my arms from when I had been Caitlyn's human pincushion, letting her practice i.v.'s on me.

"That's a plus," Caitlyn says. "There's nothing else going on is there? You know as your doctor you have to tell me…"

"Do really weird dreams count?" I say, dragging the pillow off my head. I was already feeling better; whatever she had given me was already working it's magic. I tell her about the weird vision-dreams I had been having. "And now you probably think I'm one hundred percent certifiable."

"No, no, not at all," Caitlyn says. "Sometimes migraines can exacerbate hallucinations. So it's explainable."

"See, that's why I'm friends with scientific people…" I say, trying but failing to open my eyes. "So you all can know this stuff so I don't have to."

A couple minutes later Caitlyn finishes up. "All done, everything looks good. This medicine should help, but if it doesn't, I may have to run further tests. For now, just get some rest." I nod my head at her as I roll over in the bed, careful not to disturb the i.v. still in my arm.

* * *

- _Barry's POV-_

"Hey, how is she?" I ask Caitlyn as she comes out of Elizabeth's room.

"She'll be fine," Caitlyn answers. "She was acting like she might be feeling better already." I catch the little tick she gets when she has something she wants to say…but isn't sure how to say it. "There was something else she mentioned…"

"What was it?" I ask. Caitlyn tells me about the dreams Elizabeth had been having. Instantly dread fills me and Caitlyn notices, asking me what was wrong. "Those dreams—visions she's having…they really happened…"


	2. You Came Straight Out a Lifetime Movie

The holidays were fast approaching and the weird vision-dreams were all but forgotten. Even the migraines were a thing of the past. "I promise you Caitlyn," I tell her for the thousandth time. "I haven't had any more migraines. Not even a headache."

"Okay," she says. Even though I couldn't see her through the phone, I could hear the skepticism in her voice. "But you tell me if you have any…okay?"

"Yes, Dr. Snow," I tease her. We both hang up, but not before she grumbles at me one more time. A second later, I hear my name being called. Looking up from putting the phone in my purse, I see Iris West walking up to me. "Hey Iris! Thank you so much for helping me with this…"

"Hey, Elizabeth," she greets me. "I'm glad you called." Iris had graciously agreed to help me shop for Barry a Christmas gift. Barry and I had been dating for a few months now…but I still wasn't one hundred percent on what to buy him.

"I'm glad you agreed to help. I know we haven't ever hung out or anything- I just figured you know Barry pretty well- Or well, of course you do, you two grew up together-" I stop my rambling as Iris just smiles at me. "I'm sorry, I ramble when I'm nervous."

"There is no need to be nervous," she says, placing a hand on my arm. "Come on, let's go do some shopping." We spend the next hour or so walking through the store. I finally find Barry a gift along with a gag gift. "You two are two perfect for each other." Iris says with a laugh as I pay for the gifts. "He will love those."

"I hope he does," I say as I grab the bags off the counter.

"He will, trust me," Iris says as we head towards the door. "And you should give them to him at Christmas at our house." I ask her what she means. "Dad, Barry, and I are having some people over for Christmas and I think you should come."

"Yeah," I say as an automatic response. "I'd love to."

"Great," Iris says with a small squeal. "I will let Dad know…you can tell Barry." I nod my head as Iris walks outside. I swallow back the little nugget of dread that was forming in my stomach.

* * *

As the kissing grows more passionate, I pull back from Barry. "You know, you do work here…we should probably be a little more professional-"

"You know you initiated this," Barry smiles at me, his fingers lightly pressing into my waist. I had stopped by his lab at CCPD to see if he wanted to get some dinner…but it had somehow turned into a make-out session.

"True," I says, acting like I was musing over it. "So I couldn't get in trouble but…" My fingers play with the hairs along Barry's neckline as he scrunches his nose playfully at me, pulling me even closer. "I'm just thinking anyone could walk in like Joe or your captain or-"

The clacking of heels approaching captures both of our attentions. We look towards the door to see Iris walking in. "Yo, hey," Barry says, greeting her.

"Hey Barry, hey Elizabeth," she says. Her voice sounded a little off, but I barely notice it.

"Hey Iris," I respond. I take a step back from Barry as she comes to a stop in front of us. "So I will talk to you later," I say to Barry. "Text when you're done here-"

"Yeah, definitely," Barry says, standing up from the desk he had been leaning against. "We can get some food later or something."

I start towards the door, but Iris stops me with her words before I can pass by her. "I'll see you at Christmas?"

I knew she just meant it as a parting comment, not as an accusatory statement. It left my mouth dry and my stomach bottoming out. I knew both of them could read the hesitation on my face. "Um, yeah, I'll um, I don't-" I stop myself, never fully answering her. "I'll talk to you later Barry." I say the last comment quickly before all but running to the door. I make it outside right as it starts snowing. Instead of heading towards home though, I start towards work, Central City Museum, to bury myself in work.

* * *

- _Barry's POV-_

We both stare at Elizabeth as she leaves the lab, both slightly taken back by her reaction to Iris' question. "Did she seem a little…?" Iris muses.

"Yeah," I say, still staring at the door. "I don't know what that was about." I had a pit of worry in my stomach already starting to form. I guess I could just add it to the growing pile. "Anyway," I say, shaking my head. "You said you needed to talk to me…"

* * *

- _Elizabeth's POV-_

I stare at my phone, alerting me that Barry was calling…again. Looking back, I knew I had acted funny when Iris had mentioned Christmas; and naturally, Barry was likely worried about me. Christmas was just a weird time for me. I'd never had a _real_ Christmas and I was feeling nervous about going to the West's for the holiday. The phone finally shuts off, lighting up again a second later to tell me Barry had left a voicemail. After I had left his lab, I had came straight to work. Going to work was always my fallback. When I was upset or just needed to escape, I went to work. Luckily, I was the head curator at Central City Museum, so I could come and go as I pleased. It was easy for me to lose track of time when I was in the archives, so when one of the assistant curators comes running into the archives, telling me I should turn on the news, I'm startled by the date and time. It was Christmas Eve…I had been down here over twenty-four hours. I follow her to our break room where the news was playing, showing the Flash getting his ass handed to him by some bad guys. I had yet to encounter the Flash (thankfully) but I had finally gotten used to seeing some story about him on the news. "This is horrible," I mutter, watching him being tossed around like a rag doll. "Why isn't someone stepping in…helping him?"

"The Weather Wizard and the Trickster are crazy," Susan, the assistant curator, says. "I can't believe the Flash is even taking them on."

After a few minutes, the Flash finally seems to fight back, easily overtaking the two bad guys. I let out a sigh of relief I hadn't even realized I was holding in. "Thank goodness that is over," I say, clicking off the T.V. "Do you have plans for the holidays?"

"Yeah, I'm heading out now actually," Susan says. "What about you?"

"I'll probably just hang out here-" I stop myself. "Um, actually…I am having Christmas with my boyfriend and his family."

"That sounds like fun," Susan says. She grabs up her purse and coat, telling me goodbye before leaving the room. I make my way back to my desk to start gathering up my things. I check my phone again, to see if maybe Barry has called, but he hasn't in a few hours. I gather up my stuff before heading to the door…I was going to the West's for Christmas.

* * *

- _Barry's POV-_

"Is Elizabeth coming?" Joe asks as he hands me a mug of eggnog.

I tilt my head side to side. "I am not sure," I tell him. His eyebrows dart up like they always do when he wants more information. "She kind of…I'm not sure if Christmas is really her thing."

"She seemed excited for it when we went Christmas shopping," Iris offers up as she sits on the arm of the chair I was sitting in.

"Elizabeth was always kind of weird about Christmas," Caitlyn says. Everyone turns to look at her as her and Jay step out from under the mistletoe. "When we were in undergrad she never went anywhere for break, she just stayed at the dorms."

"Wasn't she an orphan?" Joe asks. I nod my head—I hadn't even thought about that. "The holidays are usually kind of touchy for kids without parents…"

"I am the worst boyfriend ever," I say, shaking my head. "I didn't even think of that…maybe I should call her-"

"Or better yet, how are we going to explain how we all know each other," Cisco says. Everyone looks at him. "She's not in on the Flash secret, so…"

"Well we took care of Barry after the Particle Accelerator explosion," Caitlyn says. "And then after that-"

"We help out every now and then with metahuman cases," Cisco finishes.

"But Barry," Caitlin says. "Elizabeth is...this may be a problem."

"What do you mean?" I say after taking a drink of my eggnog.

"Elizabeth is very good at what she does, piecing together clues to discover new things in history." Caitlin says. "She is smart enough to figure out that you are the Flash."

"I mean she's wicked smart but…" my bravado was thinning. This wasn't something I had thought of.

"Is she really that good?" Joe asks.

"Have you read any of her books?" Caitlin says. "She single handed proved that America would not have existed without Henry VIII…and it actually made sense. History books around the world are being changed because of her work."

"Oh…girl is crazy smart," Cisco says. "So what do we do-"

"We'll just have to…" I let out a sigh. There was no way I was leaving Elizabeth but yet I couldn't tell her I was the Flash...yet. "We'll just have to be extra careful-" The sound of someone knocking on the door cuts me off. Iris jumps up, saying that she'll get it.

"Elizabeth, hi!" she says. I lean forward enough to see Elizabeth stepping through the front door. "I'm so glad you could make it!"

"Thank you for inviting me," Elizabeth says as Iris pulls her in for a quick hug. She reaches into a large tote bag and pulls out a bottle of wine, handing it to Iris. "And this is for you."

"Thank you," Iris says, looking at the label. I stand up, sitting down my mug before walking over to join them. "The label is in Spanish—is this from-"

"A wonderful shop in Grenada," Elizabeth says. "You'll love it."

"Thank you so much," Iris says. She gives me a wink that Elizabeth doesn't see as she passes by me towards the living room.

"Hey, I was worried about you," I say as I move to stand in front of Elizabeth. I quickly look her up and down, loving the cream colored sweater and long red skirt she was wearing; I always thought she looked amazing in red (the irony wasn't lost on me). "I tried calling you a few times but you never-"

"I know," she says, shaking her head. "I know. I'm horrible for not answering. I was at work and I was just burying myself and I just-" She lets out a sigh, her nostrils flaring slightly. "I was…hesitant about coming here tonight. The holidays and me…don't have the greatest track record. And I've definitely never celebrated with a…"

"Family?" I finish for her. She nods her head, giving me a nervous smile. I had gotten used to not knowing every single detail of Elizabeth's life just yet. There were things, big things apparently, that we didn't know about each other. "Well, I'm glad you're here."

"I'm glad I'm here too," she says. She smiles widely at me before I lean forward and kiss her. I loved kissing her.

"I would like to, someday, hear about how you have spent Christmas before though…whenever you're ready to tell me about it," I add.

Elizabeth's eyebrows crease together briefly before she smiles at me again. "I would like that too," I take the large tote bag from her as we start to move towards the living room. "Get enough of this famous eggnog I've so much about in me and I may just tell you tonight."

"Dr. Cambridge," Joe says as he walks up to us. "Glad you could join us."

"I'm glad to be here," she says, taking a mug of eggnog from him. "And please, call me Elizabeth. I get called the official title enough at work." Everyone else tells her hello as well. I don't miss her eyebrows scrunching together when she sees Caitlin and Cisco there. "And what are you two doing here?" she asks as Caitlin gives her a hug.

"Funny you should ask-" Caitlin starts to say but then is cut off.

Joe asks Iris if they are expecting anybody else as he goes to answer the door. I smile down at Elizabeth as she moves closer to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. We all stand there watching as Joe and Iris interact with the new guest: Joe's son, Wally West. Once he comes inside, Joe introduces him to everyone. "Geez," Elizabeth says once Joe and Wally have moved to the kitchen to get him something to drink. "I miss everything when I stay down in the archives."

* * *

- _Elizabeth's POV-_

" _¿Cómo puedes incluso decir que Star Wars es mejor que Star Trek? Son dos totalmente diferentes-"_ Cisco says to me in Spanish. Somewhere along the line our heated debate about movies had slipped into Spanish.

I roll my eyes at him as I respond. _"Puedo decir eso porque nunca he visto Star Trek-"_

" _¡blasfemia! ¡Eso es blasfemia!"_ Cisco points an accusatory finger at me as I start laughing. Everyone else chuckles as well, but I doubt they were actually keeping up with the conversation. Cisco then turns on Barry, still speaking Spanish. _"¿Cómo sigues con la chica y nunca ha visto a Star Trek?"_

"Uh, well, I-" Barry says, looking at Cisco bewildered before turning to look at me. "I assume you all were talking about Star Trek?"

"Just ignore him," I say, leaning back against the couch cushions. "We are done-" Cisco starts to argue again but I cut him off. " _terminado,_ with this conversation."

Everyone laughs as Cisco grumbles into his mug of eggnog. "So Elizabeth," Joe says. "Caitlin says that you two went to college together?" I nod my head and tell him that was right. "Where did you do your post-graduate work?"

"Um, well, I started a master's program at Harvard," I tell him. "But then a spot opened up in the doctoral program at the University of Cambridge…so I snatched that up."

"Wow, impressive," Joe says.

"Thank you," I stare at the tree for a moment. "London around Christmas time was magical. It was like stepping into a Dickens novel."

"Is that where you were last year?" Joe asks.

I break my gaze from the tree as I feel Barry squeeze my hand. I should've seen this coming…Joe was a detective and he hardly knew anything about the woman dating the boy he had raised. Barry gives me a look, telling me I didn't have to answer if I wasn't comfortable with it. "No, actually," I finally answer Joe. "I, um, I spent Christmas at the orphanage I grew up in."

"That's so sweet," Iris says. "I'm sure the children loved it."

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head. "In years past they always did. The, um, the Sisters, that worked there when I was growing up…well, they pretty much embodied every negative stereotype you could think of nuns. Christmas was just another day to them to tell us how we didn't deserve the gifts donated to us…that we should spend all day in the chapel instead, giving thanks for the orphanage that had gave us shelter." A silence settles over the group. Barry's arm comes around my shoulders. I knew it was heavy subject matter, but it had happened to me. I couldn't keep my past from them forever. "It's better now though. After I graduated college I made sure I went back there every Christmas day, gave the children some actual Christmas cheer. All the Sisters that were there when I was there have moved on and the group that work there now are close to actual saints."

"Where was this orphanage at?" Cisco asks after a moment.

"Queens, New York City." I say. "Right down the road from the restaurant I was found in actually."

Someone lets out a low whistle and I turn to see Cisco shaking his head. "Girl you came straight out of a Lifetime movie."

The tension in the room breaks and everyone laughs. "Come on," Joe says, standing up and making his way to the tree. "We got some presents to open and I see at least three with my name on them…"


	3. Girl is A Plethora of Trivial Knowledge

As I walk back into the bedroom, Barry sits up in the bed, breathing hard. "Hey, hey," I say, picking up my gait and crawling into the bed. "Barry, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he says, looking around, still breathing hard. "I'm fine…where- where did you go?"

"I just got up to get a drink of water," I say.

"Oh, okay," Barry says. As he lays down, I move in the bed and crawl under the covers next to him. "I just, I don't know…woke up with a start."

"Are you sure," I say, gazing up at him. "Nothing you want to talk about?"

"Nah," Barry says, leaning down and kissing my forehead. "I'm fine…"

* * *

"Hey Elizabeth," Iris greets me as she approaches the table.

"Hey Iris," I say as she sits down. "Thank you for meeting me."

"You're welcome," she says. I had text Iris earlier in the day asking if she'd meet me for coffee at Jitters. "I'm a little surprised you text me…"

"Yeah, I just needed to talk to someone, you, about Barry," I say. I chew the inside of my cheek as she furrows her brow at me.

"What about Barry?" she asks. "He's okay, right?"

"Yeah," I say quickly. "Yeah, I just…I know that Barry is practically your brother, so your loyalties are with him and not me, but it's just that Barry mentioned how you think I'm good for him so I thought maybe you'd help me figure him out-"

Iris chuckles a little. "You both do that rambling thing when you get nervous." She says. "But if you did figure him out, you'd be the first."

"Wonderful, nice…that gives me tons of hope," I say with a laugh. Iris laughs with me, but I could still some hesitation in her eyes. "It's just that lately Barry's been…I don't want to say 'distant' but he's been-"

"Guarded," Iris says, finishing for me.

"Yes, guarded," I agree with her. "And he's, well he's been waking up from what I assume are bad dreams that he won't tell me about. I don't know," I shake my head, looking off to the side for a moment. "Listening to myself say it out loud now I sound like a crazy lady, but it's like something is holding him back."

Iris takes a deep breath before answering me. "Here's the thing with Barry. He has a bad habit of carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Burdens that aren't even his to bear."

"But, he doesn't have to do that with me," I say timidly. This odd behavior of his had started up after Christmas…was it because of what I had said and Joe's?

"Which is exactly what you should tell him," Iris says. I nod my head at her as she reaches across the table to pat my hand, giving me a reassuring smile.

* * *

I start to head up the stairs to go up to Barry's lab at CCPD when I see him over by Joe's desk. He spots me the same time I spot him. "Hey you," he says as we approach each other. "What are you doing here?"

"Light day at work so I thought I'd come see if you'd like to grab lunch," I say.

"Ah, I would love to," Barry says. "But with the robbery here earlier I am swamped with work…"

"Oh, right, that did happen here, didn't it?" I say. "Some of the people at work mentioned it…Vandervort's are big contributors to the museum…" Barry nods his head as he stuffs his hands in his pockets. "Look," I say with a sigh. "I'm not the 'nagging girlfriend' type, so I don't want to come across as that. But you know that if something is bothering you, you can tell me." Barry nods his head and starts to say something. "I mean, you can tell me anything. You shouldn't, you know, feel burdened by anything."

"I don't," Barry says, shaking his head again.

"Good." I try to give him a convincing smile…but I was still worried.

"Look, Elizabeth," Barry lets out a sigh as his head drops for a moment. "The New Years is always a hard time for me. It's when my mom died and all those memories come out so if it seems like I haven't been communicating-"

"Oh, gosh, no, I didn't know." I say, shaking my head. I felt like a total jerk now. "I had no idea-"

"No, no, no," Barry says, trying to calm me. He takes a step closer to me, taking one of my hands into his. "Look, we haven't had a romantic night out in a while. What do you say tomorrow we get a little dinner and some drinks…maybe a little kissing…"

I smile up at him before I shake my head. "That sounds amazing," I say. "But I can't tomorrow."

Barry's brow furrows. "Why not?"

I look up at him deadpan. "You seriously forgot?" Barry's mouth open and closes a few times as he tries to wrack his brain. I let out a laugh as I pat his chest, letting my hand linger there. "I'm not mad, but am slightly hurt you forgot. Why don't you think on it a while and then give me a call tomorrow when you remember." I go up on my toes to give him a kiss on the cheek while he still stares at me dumbfounded. "Enjoy dinner with Wally tonight."

As I head towards the doors, Barry calls after me. "What's going on tomorrow night?"

* * *

- _Barry's POV-_

"You've been quiet all evening." Iris says as she puts away the plates from the no-show dinner with Wally. "The Turtle?"

"How do you know about him?" I say, watching her as she chuckles at me. Everyone seemed to know about this new baddie before me. "No, I've just had a lot on my mind."

"Elizabeth?" she says. My head snaps up to look at her. "We…we may have met for coffee."

"Iris…" I did not like the sound of that. I stand up from the couch as she continues to explain.

"She really cares about you Barry. She's just wondered why you've been so 'guarded' lately." Iris explains.

"And what did you tell her?" I ask.

"I just told her to talk to you," she says, holding her hands out to her sides.

"Oh, that's not cool," I say, folding my arms on the back of the chair and resting my head on them.

"You know, she did mention you'd been having nightmares," Iris says.

I nod my head as I pick it up. "About Zoom killing her."

Iris's lips mash into a hard line. "You realize that you can't keep things from her forever, right?" I give her a confused look, not sure what she was talking about. "One day you'll have to tell her the truth."

"That I'm the Flash? I can't do that," I say, standing up straight.

"Barry, I wish a year ago you'd told me the truth," Iris says.

"So, what, you think I should just tell her?" I say.

"I think that if your serious about being with her," Iris says. "You'll have to."

"Alright," I say, nodding my head. Iris was right. I was very serious about Elizabeth. The thought of losing her gutted me. "That's what I'll do. I'll tell Elizabeth that I'm the Flash."

* * *

"Hey, you guys got anything got anything for me?" I ask as I walk into S.T.A.R. Labs.

"I think we found the next target for our 30-something-metahuman-not-a-ninja Turtle," Cisco says, finishing the last part in a rush, ending with his mouth wide open.

"How long did it take you come to up with that?" Caitlyn says, peering at him.

"It just came out of my mouth. Did you see that?" Cisco says, looking around the room. "That was amazing." I shake my head in amusement at him. "Central City Museum is having a black-tie event showcasing _The Crystal Ball."_

When he says it, the event Elizabeth had mentioned clicked. "That's what she was talking about," I murmur.

"It's a famous painting apparently," Jay says. "Recently recovered from Markovia."

"It's on loan to the museum from the Silverburg family," Cisco says, moving around to look at the monitor Jay was looking at. "Jacob Silverberg himself said 'The paintings safe return means more to us than all the money in the world.' It's like they're begging Turtle to rob it."

"Yes, so this could be a plan," Caitlin says as I walk around the bank of computers. "The Turtle will make his move and we can be there waiting…" Caitlon notices the grim look on my face. "What is that look about?"

"This may actually be my chance to redeem myself," I say. I pull out my phone and dial Elizabeth's number as the team gives me confused looks.

"Did you finally remember?" She asks when she answers.

"Yes, I did," I say. " _The Crystal Ball_ is being debuted tonight."

"I hope you own a tux," she says.

"I think I can scrounge one up," I tell her.

"Do you even like art?" Elizabeth asks. "You've never said-"

"Oh, yeah, I love…art." My teammates in the room throw my confused looks as I shake my head. I had no clue why I had just told her that. "I'm super excited about seeing it." Elizabeth giggles a little and I can't tell if she believes me or not. "So I'll pick you up at 8:00-"

The team corrects me quickly. "7:00!"

"7:00," I say. "Pick you up at 7:00?"

"I will actually have to meet you there," Elizabeth says. "Planning the thing and all. Press beforehand…"

"That's fine," I say. "It's a date." We tell each other bye before I hang up. I had to admit, I was proud of myself, two birds—one stone and all that.

"You know, you're a really great superhero, a really great superhero," Cisco says as I walk back over to the desk."

"Thanks," I tell him. "Thank you."

"But," he says, deflating the mood quickly. "Do you think it's a good idea, when you're fighting crime, to bring a date?"

"First of all, Elizabeth helped to plan this event so there is no stopping her from going," I say. "Second, I am going to tell Elizabeth that I'm the Flash." They all give me looks ranging from 'you're crazy' to 'what the hell'. "What—Is that a bad idea? What do we think?"

"I gotta say, girl is a plethora of trivial knowledge and she totally helped us out on the Kendra-Hawkgirl situation," Cisco says, looking excited. "So, as far as I'm concerned, that's Team Flash material to me."

"All right. Yes. Thank you, Cisco." I clap my hands together, smiling widely again. "Yeah. Thank you." As I start to walk toward the door, Caitlyn gives me a look that she's still not totally convinced. "I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna tell her."

Once I'm out of the lab, Harry's voice stops me. "Don't tell her." I stop and turn back to look at him. I hadn't even realized he overheard our conversation. "You care for this woman?" I nod my head…of course I cared for her. "That's nice. Then keep her as far away from this as possible. And here's why: If Zoom finds out who you care for, who you love, who you live for, he'll take them from you."

I nod my head at him, not saying anything as I turn around…now I wasn't so sure…


	4. Do I Look Weird?

- _Barry's POV-_

The museum was very well decorated. I had been here a few times, to drag Elizabeth from her archives when she'd been down there for hours on end, but it looked different now. Waiters walking around with trays of champagne, lights decorating the walls, visitors dressed in their best formals…Elizabeth and her team had done well. "Alright," I tell Jay and Caitlin as we all look around at our surroundings. "Keep an eye out for the Turtle…never thought I'd say that." The three of us go our separate ways, I walking into what looked like a dance floor. I make my way over to the bar, where Elizabeth had said she'd meet me. The man behind the counter hands me a drink as I thank him. As I turn my head, starting to look around the room, I see Elizabeth walking into the room. The breath immediately leaves my body as I see how beautiful she is; a black dress with intricate gold beading on top hugging her frame, her hair pulled back into a simple, yet elegant bun. My mind quickly flashes back to the dream of her being thrown off the building by Zoom—

"You have a really weird look on your face," she says as she comes up to me. "Do I look weird? I had to get ready in my office and I-"

"No, no." I say quickly. "Um, you look like a dream."

She smiles at me widely, reaching up to brush her fingertips along the lapel of my jacket. "You look very handsome." I lean down slightly, her heels making her taller than usual, and kiss her. "I can't wait for you to see this painting…"

"What painting?" I mumble at her. She smirks at me, like she had caught me in a lie. "Oh, the painting. Uh, yeah. Me too…yeah." I reach down and take her hand in mine, starting to lead her to the dancing. "How about we talk first?" I can practically feel the confused look she was surely giving me.

* * *

- _Elizabeth's POV-_

"Okay," I say. A second later, Barry stops in the middle of the dance floor, turning me to face him and placing a hand on the small of my back. I place my other wrist over his shoulder, my grip tightening on the small clutch I was carrying. As uncomfortable as it made me, security for the museum had suggested staff carry some sort of firearm during the event in case the newest villain, The Turtle, decided to show up. I wasn't against guns…I had just never used one before. Barry and I start to sway to the music playing softly from the speakers "I can't figure you out, Barry Allen…"

"That is because I work hard to hide who I really am," he says, giving me a serious look.

"You don't have to hide with me," I tell him, giving his hand a small squeeze.

"I just have to really trust someone," Barry says, still looking at me almost grimly. I was getting nervous…what was he trying to tell me? "If they're gonna know the truth."

"Do you?" I ask, almost timidly.

Barry finally smiles at me, breaking whatever tension I was starting to feel. "I trust you, Elizabeth."

"I trust you too," I tell him.

Barry takes a deep breath before talking again. "Elizabeth, um-" He takes another deep breath. "After I was struck by lightning, when I woke up—" He stops, looking at something over my head.

"Barry, you were saying?" I say, hoping he'll continue.

"I have to go," he says suddenly, looking back at me. "I'm sorry."

"What?" I say as he turns and all but runs away. "What? Barry!" As he disappears from my sight, I look around, at a loss. I was used to him cutting dates short or cancelling all together…but this was new. As I turn as look behind me, I see a man with a green hood lifting the painting off the wall. Without even thinking about it, I grab the gun out of my clutch and aim it at the guy. "Hey! Stop right there!" Everyone around me moves away, looking to where I was aiming the gun. The guy just turns to face me, still holding the painting. He looks at me for a moment, then suddenly disappears, reappearing in short bursts. Then, the gun was gone from my hands. I look around, trying to find the guy. When I turn around again, I see him standing on the staircase, pointing the gun directly at me. My hands immediately go in the air. "How are you that fast?"

I hear the whooshing of air before I see the red blur appear at the top of the staircase. "Oh, no," a voice says. I turn to see the Flash standing at the top of the staircase. "He is much slower."

I had never actually seen the Flash in person. I stare at him longing I probably should when there was a gun aimed at me; but, there was something familiar about him. Like I said, I had never seen him before and his face was blurry…but something struck me as familiar with him. "What's this, a trap?" The Turtle says. I turn to look at him as he talks to the Flash. "I'm slow, not stupid."

Everything that happens next…literally happens in a blur. I hear gunshots, the room goes dark, an arm around my waist pulling me, then I'm lying on the floor with the chandelier crashing to the ground mere inches from my feet. When I start to come to, finally coming to my senses, the room is deserted and I'm alone. What the hell just happened?

* * *

After giving a statement to the police, Joe's partner Patty to be exact, I was finally able to go home. I never could find Barry and he wasn't answering his phone. At home, out of that constricting gown and into some comfy clothes, I make myself a cup of tea, chewing something over in my mind. Where had Barry went? Why wasn't he answering my calls now? What had happened back at the museum? Was it the Flash that had pushed me out of the way? Why was he so familiar? Where had he gone? As I sit down on the couch, I pull out my laptop and start looking at different stories about the Flash. For some reason, one of the theory making parts of my brain whispers to me: _maybe Barry is the Flash?_ I immediately shake it off. It was crazy…however—

My thoughts are interrupted though by a knock at the door. I shut the laptop, pushing it to the side. When I peer through the peephole, I see Barry. Opening the door, I'm sure I looked pissed off. "I was right," he says, almost timidly. "I thought that you would look mad and you do."

I shake my head at him as I walk away from the door. "What happened?" I ask him as I cross my arms over my chest. I hear the click of the door shutting behind me.

"Um…" Barry says, walking behind me. "I don't really have a good excuse."

"Nothing?" I say, turning on him. "Nothing? I mean…come on, Barry. Anything is better than nothing." He just lets out a sigh, shoving his hands into his pockets, taking the verbal rocks I was throwing at him. "Holy crap, I've been a really, really cool girlfriend. Most girls don't have the self-esteem to handle to the…'Plans? Oh, no plans. That's cool.' Or the waking up in the middle of the night screaming again? Fine. Whatever…actually not whatever I'm really worried about that. But then the really, really fancy plans? Which was awesome that you joined me at that but then you ditched me right before I almost died. And I almost did! I had to use a gun and the Flash showed up and I'm still not sure what happened…"

"Well, I- when you put it that way…" Barry was smiling, like he could flip this into a lighter situation than it really was.

"I'm actually really upset," I say, squashing that notion.

The smile disappears from him face quickly. "Yeah," he says, hanging his head. "I know."

"Look," I say, taking a deep breath and step closer to him. "We've been having fun and fun is really, so great. But I'm moving past fun to the close part." Barry takes a step closer to me as I cross my arms over my chest. "That's what I want, okay? That's where I'm going. I really want you to go there with me…but you need to decide and let me know if that's what you want…and fast." I don't wait for him to say anything before I walk out of the room. I was on the verge of tears and I didn't want him to see them. Hiding in the darkness of my kitchen, I hear him leave the apartment.

* * *

A little while later, I'm sitting on the couch again, this time drowning my sorrows in a glass of whiskey. My heart gives a little jump when I hear a knock at the door. "Barry?" I say as I practically skip over to it. I hated fighting with Barry. "Hey-" I start to say as I open the door but then stop when I see it's not Barry, but the man from the museum. I try to push the door back shut, but he easily stops it, pushing it back open and me to the ground. I crawl over the end table where I had a taser in the drawer. As I reaching in, he grabs me, knocking the table over in the process. I try to fight against him but then stop when I hear the cocking of a gun and feel the cold metal press against my neck. "What do you want from me?" I ask as he roughly wraps an arm around my neck.

"The thing most precious to the Flash," he says. I try to turn my head to look at him…what did he mean? "You." I don't have time to voice my protests before the butt of the gun comes down on my forehead, knocking me out.

When I start to come to, I hear a ticking noise. Once I'm fully awake, I recognize it as someone typing on a type-writer. I look around, seeing that I'm surrounded by random objects. Then, I realize that I'm tied down to a chair. In vain, I try to move then to see if the ties will break. I try to find the source of the typing and see a man sitting a desk across the room from me. "What do you want with me?" I ask him again.

"For you to stop moving," he says before finally looking at me. "Forever."

My veins run cold at the tone of his voice. Despite that, I decide to keep him talking. "What do you get out of killing me?"

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you." He says. "That's much too fast and messy. I like to take things nice and slow."

Yet again, I'm scared out of my mind…but keep talking. "You don't have to hurt me to try to prove a point."

"This isn't about hurting you." He says, as if that should be obvious to me. "This is about hurting someone who values you."

I was confused by what he meant. "Who?" I say, trying to think of who he meant. "Barry?" He was the only person I could think of.

"No." he says, looking at me slightly confused. "The Flash."

"What does he have to do with this?" I ask quickly. Now I was scared and confused.

The man stands up and takes a couple steps towards me. "I saw the way he saved you-"

"Yes, that's what he does. He's a hero." I say without even thinking about it. "He saves people who need saving."

"It's a waste of time, saving people." The man says, as if my statement ha personally offended him. "They take everything for granted."

He finally turns back and goes to his desk. I look away from him, at all the random objects piled in the room. "So you take what matters most to them…"

"My wife, Rosalyn, took me for granted." He lets out a humorless chuckle. "Ironically she was an archivist…like you." I turn my head slowly to look back at him. "She wanted to leave me, the thing I valued most-"

"So that's what this is about?" I ask. "You're hurt because your wife left you?"

A crazed look creeps into his eyes. "I couldn't let that happen." He comes to a stop in front of something large, covered by a green cloth. He looks back at me suddenly. "So I made her mine. Forever." He turns quickly and pulls the cover off the object. I hold back a scream as he reveals the woman in the case, mummified…dead. My gaze is only pulled away from her by him moving, grabbing whatever he had been typing on off the type-writer. He walks over to another object, pulling the cover off of it to reveal an empty case identical to the one his wife was in. "I do hope I spelled your name right." As he slides the card into the holder, I can see my name typed on it: _Dr. Elizabeth Cambridge._ I shut my eye tightly, trying to hold back another scream.

When I open my eyes, I see him walking over towards me. On a table next to me, he starts preparing a concoction, what I'm sure is the embalming fluid. I start struggling against my restraints again as he moves towards me with an i.v. needle, a liquid dripping out of it. Before he can push it into my arm, a bang in the distance grabs his attention. A second later, a red blur speeds into the room. A second after that, the Turtle is halfway across the room, the Flash falling to the ground. I watch him as he turns over, looks up at the Turtle and then speeds out of the room. The Turtle looks at the door for a second before walking back towards me. "I guess he doesn't care about you as much as I thought." I stare at the door in horror…where did the Flash go? My attention is diverted by the Turtle picking up a knife as he nears me.

"No, no, please," I beg as he comes towards me. My pleas don't deter him though. I continue to beg, struggling against my restraints. Another bang distracts us, the Flash returning. Seconds later, the Turtle is flying across the room, crashing into the wall, and falling to the ground unconscious. I look back at the Flash as he bends over panting. He then comes over to me, grabbing the knife off the ground.

"Elizabeth, it's alright," he says, still breathing hard as he cuts the ties around my ankles. When he cuts the ones off my arms, I spring out of the chair, throwing my arms around his neck. _I'm not going to die, I'm not going to die,_ I think to myself as his arms come around my waist, still telling me I was going to be okay.

"Thank you, thank you so much," I all but sob into his shoulder. As I hold onto him…that familiar cord I had had at the museum stirs in me again. I hug him for a second longer before pulling back to look at him. I didn't even think about it, looking him in the face, but when I do, I'm met with what I think are familiar eyes before I pass out from shock. " _Barry?"_

* * *

As I come to for the second time that night, I realize this time I'm in a hospital. I look around, the lights were off except for the monitors displaying my vitals. Barry, was dozing in a chair right next to my bed, holding my hand. I turn my hand over in his, the slight action waking him up. "Hey," I say, sounding somewhat hoarse.

"Hey," Barry says, sitting up straighter. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," I say, also attempting to move up in the bed. When I go to move, I notice the bandages on my wrists. "Sore." Barry agrees with me as he moves the chair to face me. "How did you know I was here?"

"Uh, CCPD," Barry says. "Joe and Patty arrived at the scene after the Flash stopped the Turtle. Joe called me." I nod my head. I look closely at him, staring directly at his eyes. The Flash's eyes were still haunting me…and they looked exactly like Barry's. "Do you need any-"

"Are you the Flash?" I blurt the question out before I can think it through.

Barry stares at me, his face shocked. "What?"


	5. I Hate Ultimatums

"What are you talking about?" Barry asks.

"I just…" I stare at him more, growing more sure of my theory. "Your eyes…and the cancelling and cutting dates short. You disappeared from the museum the other night and then the Flash just happens to show up? It all makes sense now…" Barry drops his head to the bed, pressing his forehead to my hand. "Barry…" I say his name, nudging his head up with my hand. "Please, don't lie to me…"

Barry stares at me, a blank look on his face. "I need to go." Before I can say anything, walks quickly out of the room.

* * *

- _Barry's POV-_

"What did you call us all here for?" Cisco says, walking into the lab looking half asleep. After leaving the hospital I had text him and Caitlin, telling them to meet me at S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Why aren't you at the hospital?" Caitlin asks as well. A look of dread starts to creep onto her face. "Is something wrong with Eliza-"

"No, no, she's fine…" I say, shaking my head but still pacing around. They ask me again why they were there as I come to a stop. "Elizabeth thinks I'm the Flash."

They both stare at me with blank looks. "Didn't you want to tell her anyway?" Cisco says.

"I told you she would figure it out," Caitlin murmurs.

"That's not the point," I say, walking over to them. "Seeing her...taken by the Turtle…I don't want that ever happening again. I don't want another person that Zoom or any of these meta-humans, can use against me. I don't want it."

"So…what…you're going to break up with her?" Cisco asks. He knew the answer though.

"Maybe," Caitlin offers up. "Maybe once she sleeps…the shock of being kidnapped wears off, she'll think differently." It was a long shot…but it may work. "I'll go to the hospital and stay with her until she's discharged. Maybe I can talk her off the ledge."

* * *

- _Elizabeth's POV-_

"I'm not wrong, Caitlin." I say again. It had been a full twenty-four hours since I had been discharged and I was still thinking the same thing: Barry was the Flash. I hadn't seen him again though; Caitlin had come to hospital and brought me home when I was discharged. "He didn't even deny it." Caitlin stays silent, as she had anytime I mentioned Barry being the Flash. It made sense though…she, S.T.A.R. Labs, must help the Flash…Barry. "Does S.T.A.R. Labs help him?"

That caught her attention. Her head snaps up from the cup of tea she was making in my kitchen. "Who? Barry?"

"The Flash…or well, same person," I say with a shrug.

Caitlin lets out a sigh. "I am not commenting on this."

I throw my hands in the air. "No one is denying it, yet no one will tell me the truth!" I let out a sigh as I sit on a bar stool next to the island. "I got an email the other day." Caitlin turns around to look at me, thinking I was changing the conversation. "I got an email the other day, offering to do a lecture series at Oxford…"

"In London?"

"In London," I say, nodding my head. "It would be for a month that I would be there. So," I slide off the bar stool and walk over to her, taking the now finished cup of tea off the counter. "Tell Barry…and I hate giving ultimatums…but tell him that I am thinking long and hard about taking it, especially if I don't get any answers." Caitlin stares at me with a deer in the headlights look. I hated putting her in this position, but I was lashing out like a cat back into a corner. "Thank you for the tea…"

A few hours later, after a nap, I listen to a voicemail from Barry, saying that something had come up at work but that he promised we would have dinner and talk. When I set the phone back down, my head starts ringing…the tale-tell sign I was starting to get a headache. I shake it off, thinking it was after effects of the concussion Turtle had given me with the blow to the head. I take some of the naproxen the doctors had sent home with me, hoping that would help. Over the course of the day, the headache only grows worse, surging towards a migraine. I call Caitlin, like she had told me to do if this happened again, but it rolls over to voicemail. I try everyone…but everyone rolls over to voicemail. After the fifth unsuccessful call to Caitlin's phone, I grab my keys, deciding just to drive over to S.T.A.R. Labs to find her myself.

* * *

- _Caitlin's POV-_

We all let out a sigh of relief as Cisco's seizures stop after I administer the drug; he still looked out of it though. Suddenly, he seems to sink down in the bed, lingering in a misty state. "What the-" Joe says as we all look around at each other.

"What was that?" Barry asks, looking directly at me. I had no clue…I was at a loss.

"What's going on?" Cisco cries out, his voice sounding far away. "Where the hell am I?"

"It's the timeline," Harry says, stepping closer to look down at Cisco.

"What? What are you talking about?" Barry asks, panicked as he looks at Wells.

"When you—when you captured the Reverse-Flash, we ruptured the timeline." He explains in a flurry. "That's what this…all the blood, and the seizures, and it all…Cisco is being affected by the changes to the timeline. To the changes to the past, to the changes to the-"

"Caitlin," the last voice I ever expected to hear at that moment yells for me. Every one turns to see Elizabeth practically crawling into the lab. "Cait- I need…my head…oh my god…please help me!"

Barry zooms over and grabs her, depositing her on the other gurney right behind me. "What's going on?" Barry asks, looking down at her as she writhes in pain on the gurney.

"I don't- I don't know," I say, trying to calm Elizabeth down.

As I'm trying to ask Elizabeth with was wrong with her, Harry walks over and grabs Barry by the shoulders. "Barry, you need to get Reverse-Flash and send him back to the future as quickly as possible-"

"What…are you- I just caught him!" Barry yells at Wells.

"Elizabeth, what is wrong?" I say to Elizabeth. Before she can answer though, she starts seizing as well. I yell for Joe, who takes my place and turns her on her side as I run to grab more medicine.

"Barry if this is the only way we can save him, you gotta do it." Joe yells over at Barry as I inject Elizabeth with the benzodiazepine. She finally settles, laying limp on the bed. I immediately feel at her neck; her pulse was weak.

Barry was at crossroads, I could see it. "Okay, alright look," Barry says, fumbling over his words. "I destroyed the tachyon drive in the speed machine. There's no way it'll reach the speed necessary to send him back home."

"You can," Wells says, rubbing at the back of his, trying to come up with an answer.

"What?"

"Your speed," Wells answers Barry, looking at him again. "Coupled with Thawne's speed, that'll be enough to catapult him through the time continuum. You can do it."

Barry looks down at Elizabeth before turning to look back at Cisco. He finally comes to a decision. "All right. All right, let's do it…"

Him and Wells leave the lab, Wells grabbing a gun from one of the tables. Joe and I both look between Cisco and Elizabeth; Cisco still hovering in the misty state, Elizabeth lying unconscious. "So what the hell happened with Elizabeth?" Joe asks.

"I don't know," I say, moving to grab some electrodes to attach to her head. "But we'll find out." As I'm finishing up, Wells comes back in the lab, pulling the monitor to watch the pipeline and Barry. As Barry and Reverse-Flash start running around the pipeline, Cisco returns to his usual form, but he starts seizing again. We all watch in anticipation as they run, round and round, until the Reverse-Flash disappears. As soon as he disappears, Cisco stops seizing. A second later, Barry runs into the lab, looking at me expectantly. "He's going to be okay." I tell him.

Every one lets out a sigh of relief. Barry walks over to us, heading straight for Elizabeth. "What happened with Elizabeth?" he asks. His voice sounded strained.

"I don't know," I say, looking at the monitor attached to her. "We'll find out though."

* * *

- _Elizabeth's POV-_

"Elizabeth?" the voice sounded foggy as I start to wake up. "Are you waking up?"

"Well, I'm trying to," I say, trying to open my eyes. When they're open, I see Caitlin hovering over me. "What a sight to wake up to…"

"You're the one who collapsed in my lab," she says, finally moving out of my line of sight. I finally am able to look around. "Barry…" I let his name out in breath when I see him.

"Hey you," he says, coming to stand next to me. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I'm coming off the worst hangover," I say. "And like my head is in a vice-"

"Amen to that sister," I hear next to me. I look past Barry and see Cisco laying in the bed next to me. I raise an eyebrow at him.

"What is-" I look around properly this time. "Am I in S.T.A.R. Labs? How did I get here?"

"You drove here, apparently," Caitlin says. "Which was really dumb, by the way-"

"I know, I know," I say, waving her off. "No one was answering their phones though…"

"Hey, do you all mind if I talk to Elizabeth?" Barry says, looking around the room. Caitlin nods her head before helping Cisco out of his bed and they both slowly leave the lab. "We need to talk…" Barry says, pulling up a stool and sitting next to my bed.

"Yes, we do," I say. "I'm not-"

"You were right," he says, cutting me off. "I am…the Flash." I let out a sigh. "When I was struck by the lightning, it changed me. I've been the Flash since I woke up from the coma."

"Why didn't you just tell me that when I said something the first time?" I ask him.

"I…" Barry looks away from me, shaking his head. "Everyone I love is taken from me…I couldn't let that happen to you. This guy…a speedster, that we're up against right now…Zoom, he…will stop at nothing to stop me, no one is off limits to him."

I lift a hand and place it on the side of his face. "I trust you." Barry's face relaxes as he covers my hand with his. "Whatever happens…I trust you." He smiles at me before leaning forward and kissing me. After a second, something he said dawns on me, so I push him back. "Wait, wait, wait-" he looks at me confused again. "You said people you 'love' are taken from you and then you didn't want that to happen to me…are you saying that you love me? I mean, don't want to read too much into the statement. But, you know, I've been kind of thinking the same thing. Especially when Turtle had me all I kept thinking was 'I love Barry and I never even got the chance to tell him' and then I realized you were the Flash and that killer migraine came on and-"

"Elizabeth, slow down," Barry says, stopping my rambling. "And yes, to answer your question…I do. I love you Elizabeth Cambridge."

I smile widely at Barry, taking a deep breath. "I love you too Barry Allen."

* * *

I stand in the lab with everyone else, looking at the computer screens that Caitlin said were my brain scans. Caitlin had subjected me to a plethora of tests and now she was going to share the results. "None of these make any sense to me Caitlin. My PhD is in History…not bio-whatever it is-"

"I know that," Caitlin says, giving me a stern look. I raise my hands, telling I was done and she could continue. "Thank you. Anyway, your scans now look fine. But the scans from when you came in…you suffered from—well, I can only compare it to a transient ischemic attack."

"A what?" I ask. I look over at Barry who was looking at the scans with a critical eye. "What's a trans-"

"It's a mini stroke." Predictably, I start to freak out. Caitlin calms me quickly though. "I said what happened to you was _like_ a mini stroke. It's…long story short, I'm not exactly sure what happened to you. What I'm concerned about is the timing of the event. When was the last time you got one of these migraines?"

"Um," I say, trying to think back. "It's been a few months ago, right after I met Felicity and Oliv-"

"Right after we stopped Vandal Savage," Barry answers. I raise an eyebrow at him in question. "I'll explain later. But what does that have to do with her migraine this time?"

"Well," I say, walking closer to the monitors. None of it made sense to me, but I think I was following Caitlin's train of thought. "What do the two incidences have in common? Stopping Vandal Savage and…well, whatever happened earlier—which someone is going to tell me about…"

"Time travel," Cisco says, almost like a murmur. We all turn to look at him. His face was blank, but I could see the gears churning. "Both times, the timeline was changing or was changed. Could she—" Cisco looks over at Barry with an impressed stare. "Can your girl time-travel?"

"No," Caitlin answers before anyone else can. "She is not a meta. I tested her for that as well-"

"Yeah, and I wasn't even here for the Particle Accelerator explosion. I was in Venice…" I say. The thought of being a meta made me uneasy. "But you say that everything is normal now?" Caitlin nods her head.

"Cait told me, the last time you had a migraine, you were having these dreams…or visions," Barry says, looking at me. "What were they?"

I tell him about the dreams, burning alive…dying. "They were horrible. I would get them at random-"

"They weren't dreams," Barry says. A grim look was on his face now. "When I ran back in time, when we were fighting Savage, what you just described—it really happened…"

I stare at him as Caitlin picks up the thread. "So basically any time the timeline is changed or is effected…Elizabeth retains all the memories of the previous timeline?"

"How though?" Cisco asks. "If she isn't a meta, then how is she able to retain-"

"I don't think I'm supposed to," I say. I finally look away from Barry. "I mean, I've always had a really good memory…photographic basically. But, I mean, what if even though I am retaining these memories…I'm not supposed to?"

"I could maybe try to build something…" Cisco says.

"Dampen the effects of time-travelling," Wells says, picking up where Cisco left off. "Which Mr. Allen seems to be so fond of…"

The two of them walk out of the lab, taking about science stuff way over my head. "We will continue to run tests on you, periodically, to see if we can't figure this out," Caitlin says.

I nod my head at her as she starts to walk towards the medical bay, patting my arm as she walks by me. Once we're left alone, I walk back over to Barry where he was sitting on a table. "Well, this is fun new development." He gives me a half smile as I come to a stop in front of him, standing between his legs. "Hey," I say, grabbing one of his hands. "This is not your fault Barry. I can see it-"

"Both times you were affect was because I had messed with the-"

"This is my brain," I say, cutting him off. "My brain that's messed up. Not anything you've done. Okay?"

"Okay," Barry says, nodding his head. I still wasn't totally convinced he believed me…but it was a start. "Hey, I wanted to ask you something…" He slides off the table, turning slightly to lean against it. "Caitlin mentioned something about you going to London…?"

I shake my head. "Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn't thinking clearly and at the time an ultimatum sounded like a good idea-"

"I think you should go," Barry says suddenly. My eyebrows mash together. "Not for the same reasons as before but…I think you should go."

"Barry, I-"

"Look, you love your job, you're good at it too." Barry says. "I think you should go. Maybe not stay a month, but…"

I cross my arms over my chest. I did want to go do this. I loved teaching history as much as I loved history. "Barry, we just…" I shake my head though. This was crazy. "We just got to this place…total honesty…how I can leave?"

"You aren't leaving," he steps closer to me, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Look, you love London. It may be a good refresher for you after all this."

I let out a groan as I let my head fall against his chest. "Maybe I can go for just a week…" I pick my head back up and look up at Barry. "I still love you though." Barry nods his head as he smiles down at me. "And I'm not going to stay there because I found out my boyfriend can run super fast. I'm coming back."

Barry leans down and kisses my forehead. "Good," he says. "I wouldn't want to have to run to London to try to convince you to come back."

* * *

 **A/N:** Thank you all so much for the reviews! I really enjoy reading them!


	6. I Know That Dummy

As I walk off the jetway, I power my phone to life. I was finally back from London, eager to see Barry and my friends. The notifications immediately start popping up, mainly missed calls from Iris; a couple were from Caitlin, but the bulk of them were from Iris. I call her as I walk through the terminal, heading for the exit. "Hey, Iris, I just saw you called a million-"

"Have you talked to Barry?" she says. She sounded like she was in a rush…or that she was angry.

"No, not since I left London," I say. I knew I had missed quite a bit while I was in London; Wells stealing Barry's speed, Iris getting hurt, and something about a guy made of tar. "He was going to pick me up from-"

"You need to get over to S.T.A.R. Labs right now," she says, cutting me off again. I ask her what was going on. I didn't have a good feeling in my stomach. As she explains, I wave down a cab. "Barry, Wells, and Cisco have closed all the breaches in Central City and they are going to go to Earth-2."

" _What?"_ Barry had not told me that. "Why didn't Barry-"

"He said…he gave some excuse about you trying to stop him. You need to get over here, now. They are leaving soon." I tell her I'll try my best before hanging up.

The cab driver asks me where I need to go as I hurriedly climb into the back seat. "Bring me to S.T.A.R. Labs…now."

* * *

Once I reach the facility, I leave my luggage at the front door and start to quickly walk through the halls. As I'm heading for the lab, Cisco, Well, Joe, Jay, Caitlin, and Barry walk out of the Cortex. "Barry Allen, you are in so much trouble," I say, grabbing his attention.

His head turns, along with everyone else's, to look at me. He lets out a sigh before telling them he'll meet them in the breach room. "How did you-"

"Iris called me," I say. "Why in the world did you think it would be a good idea for you to sneak off to _another world_ and not tell me about it?"

"I didn't—" Barry says. "I wasn't sneaking off. I left you a note. Look…Elizabeth," Barry reaches out and grabs both of my hands in his "I have to stop Zoom…I have to help Harry's daughter. I need to do this-"

"I know that dummy," I say. Now Barry gives me a confused look. "I'm not mad that you're going. Hello, you're a superhero…it's in the job description. I'm mad you weren't going to tell me about it."

"I'm sorry," he says, hanging his head for a moment.

"You can't keep things like this from me," I tell him. "You brought me into this world…you can't keep stuff from me. I'm a tough girl, I can handle a lot."

Barry smiles briefly at me before leaning down and kissing me. "Come on, they're waiting for me."

I nod my head as we both turn and start towards the cortex. "Barry," Jay says as we both walk into the room. "Listen to me. You're about to go through the looking glass. You're going to see things that look and feel familiar, but they're not. Up is down, black is white. And do not let yourself get sucked in emotionally. And good luck."

Barry nods his head at Jay before he descends the small staircase. I stay at the top of it, next to Joe. "Look," he looks at me briefly before turning back to Jay. "If we're not back in forty-eight hours, that means that Zoom has us. If that happens, you have to close the breach."

I feel my mouth go dry and my legs get shaky. "We're not going to do that," Caitlin says. I feel Joe wrap an arm around my shoulders.

Barry looks up towards me and Joe. Joe gives me a little nudge and we both walk down the staircase. "You get yourself back here in one piece, all right?" Joe tells Barry. "Don't make me come and get you."

"No," Barry says, smiling at Joe as he moves in to give the man a hug. When they break apart, Barry turns to me. My bravado from earlier was gone and now I was scared to death for him. He realizes this, quickly pulling me into his arms. After a second, his arms unwrap from my waist and come to rest around my neck. He kisses me very passionately before resting his forehead on mine. "I love you Elizabeth."

"I love you too Barry," I answer in a whisper. "Come back to me." Barry doesn't say anything, just nods his head. Others in the room say their goodbyes as well as I move back up the staircase, Caitlin following behind me. Jay, Joe, Caitlin and I watch them as they approach the breach.

"Is anyone else feeling panic right now?" I hear Cisco say. "I chickened out of bungee jumping when I was eighteen but this is categorically a lot scarier."

"Once I turn the speedcannon on you three will be able to pass through unharmed." Jay calls out to them. "But Barry, you need to make sure you keep your speed up."

Barry hums in agreement. "I got no spit," Cisco says, full on panicking.

"Jaws." Harry says, thinking he was picking up on a reference.

"I'm not just quoting Jaws. I mean my mouth is really dry right now." Cisco responds.

"Do not get distracted by anything you see along the way." Jay warns the group.

Cisco turns back to look at him, the panic in his voice evident on his face. "What are we going to see?"

"Everything."

Cisco's eyes go wide as Barry speaks out. "Do it Jay." Jay flips a lever, the breach opening in front of the three men. When it opens, I feel a little light-headed so I grab onto the handrail. No one notices though. I watch Barry as he grabs onto Cisco and Harry's coats. "Okay, let's go." A second later, in a red blur, they were gone. We stand there, staring at the breach. My head grows fuzzier and fuzzier the more I stare at it. A second later, something explodes and one of the stabilizers comes off the device rolling right towards Caitlin. Jay springs into action, pushing her out of the way in time. When the smoke clears though, the breach is closed. "What happened?" Joe asks as we both join Jay and Caitlin by the device.

Jay lets out a sigh, trying to think. "With the rest of the breaches closed, the energy surge to this last remaining breach must have destabilized it."

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"As long as it's unstable, Barry and Cisco will be trapped over there." Jay says.

"Well…you can fix it though, right?" Joe says. Jay doesn't respond.

* * *

I stare at the T.V. screen, watching as the new metahuman, Geomancer, wreaked havoc on the city demanding to see the Flash. Joe and Jay were arguing over whether or not Jay should take Velocity-Six and pose as the Flash. When Joe seems to have enough, Joe starts to leave the lab, but stops by me. "How you holding up?"

"I'm fine," I say, finally looking away from the T.V. "Just watching the clock."

Joe nods his head, patting me on the shoulder. "Don't. It'll drive you crazy." I shake my head as he walks out of the Cortex.

A few minutes later, Caitlin comes back into the Cortex. "You okay?" she asks me.

"I will be when people stop asking me that," I say with a humorless laugh. "And when Barry comes back."

Caitlin just gives me a half smile. "Correct me if I'm wrong…" Caitlin says, stepping closer to me and dropping her voice. "But when that breach opened…did you almost pass out?"

I let out a groan as I drop my head into my hands. "Let me guess…more tests?"

She nods her head. "When Barry and Cisco get back…yes."

* * *

I try to get some sleep at S.T.A.R. Labs, but its sporadic. Caitlin suggests I go to work the next day, but Jay suggests against it since Geomancer was still out there. I sit back and watch them work to complete a new speed formula. None of what they were doing was making any sense to me. Science was never my forte. I had barely scrapped through chemistry in college; how ironic was it now that I was surrounded by scientists. I was even in love with one. Barry had less than twenty-four hours to return.

After Jay had used the Velocity-Nine to save the people in the building that Geomancer had brought down, Iris, Caitlin and I were sitting around the lab. Caitlin, working on something for Jay, Iris, a piece for work, and I was still watching the news, talking about Geomancer and wondering where our Flash was. "Oh my god," Caitlin says suddenly. "I think I just figured out how to save Jay's life." She gets on the intercom, telling Jay to come down to the Cortex. I shut off the news as Iris shuts her laptop. "Come to the Cortex. It's important."

"It certainly is." A voice says from the doorway. We all turn to see Geomancer walking into the room.

"What do you want?" Iris demands as we all back away from him.

"I like to watch heroes fall," he says, slowly sauntering towards us. "And never get back up."

"He always gets back up," Caitlin declares.

"Hard to do that when the Earth swallows you whole." He says, stopping in front of us. Before any of us can react, he kneels down, punching the ground. We run as the ground starts the split and the building shakes. We run out of the Cortex, down the hallway, dodging debris that was falling overhead. I follow in behind Iris as Caitlin starts frantically searching for something. Another quake rocks the building, causing some shelves to fall onto Caitlin. I crouch down to look under a desk, seeing she was knocked out cold. Iris and I both reach out to try and stir her, but Geomancer was right behind us, pulling us back. "Looks like this new Flash isn't much of a hero after all." He says, advancing on us as we tried to crawl backwards. He crouches down, giving us both a twisted smile. "Let's see what a seven will do to S.T.A.R Labs."

Before he can fulfill his threat, Caitlin, who had regained consciousness, shoots a device around his neck. He falls to the ground, shaking as electricity coursed over his body. "Nice shot," Iris says as she and I stand up.

"I was aiming for his leg," Caitlin confesses.

I raise an eyebrow at her. "What do we do with him now?"

* * *

I sitting down in the breach room, just watching the latent machine. I had told myself it was in case they came back. Joe had arrived to escort Geomancer to Iron Heights. The time was dwindling for Barry and Cisco to return. Suddenly, alarms start blaring and sparks start shooting from the floor. A minute later, Jay and Caitlin run into the room. "I don't know what happened!" I yell as Jay sprays the console with a fire extinguisher.

"It's the breach. Geomancer's tremors destabilized it," he says as him and Caitlin inspect the monitors. "We need to fix this fast."

In the speed cannon, the breach was flickering, like it was trying to stay open. "Otherwise they're never going to be able to come back."

"Can you stabilize it?" I ask, walking down the stairs towards it.

"We should-" Caitlin says, walking past me towards the consoles. "We'd have to-"

"Wait, Elizabeth, stay where you are," Jay suddenly calls out. I look at him to see that he's not looking at me, but at the breach. I turn to also look at it…it was stabilizing. I subconsciously back away from it; when I do though, it starts to destabilize. "What the-"

"Guys," I yell out. I was freaking out now. "What is going on?"

"Elizabeth, stay where you are," Caitlin says. I turn around to look at them. "We're going to try to stabilize the breach from here…but you may be their only shot at getting home." I nod my head frantically. I was rooted to the spot in fear.

A little bit later, Iris and Joe walk into the room. "So, that was the sound that we heard," Iris says. She looks around the room, taking in the scene. Her eyes finally land on me, rooted in place by fear by the breach. "Elizabeth- what are you-"

"The speed cannon became unstable," Jay says. "The jolt disrupted the quark matter. The electromagnetic insulators are failing."

"How do we fix it in time?" Joe asks.

"I don't know if we can," Jay says with a shake of his head.

"What is Elizabeth doing down there?" Joe asks, the concern all over his face.

"Somehow, which we will figure out later, Elizabeth being near the breach is stabilizing it enough to keep it open," Caitlin answers. "We are trying to stabilize it from here though-"

"Guys I don't like this," I say, cutting her off. I look up at the breach. It looked like it was growing, spreading towards me. I back away from it and it starts to close again. "Please hurry."

"Elizabeth, you just need to remain calm," Joe tells me. I look back at him. I could tell why Barry looked up to him so. He had a calming, reassuring demeanor. "Keeping this open, will get Barry home. They are doing their part up here. You just stay calm…and do your part."

"How much longer do they have?" I ask.

Iris pulls her phone out of her pocket to look at it. "They have an hour."

I nod my head at her. Hour or not, I was staying here until Barry came back through. I was not giving up on him.

* * *

"The breach is destabilizing," Jay says.

"I'm not doing anything, I swear," I say, looking up at the breach swarming around again.

"Our only chance is to reboot the electromagnetic insulators and hope the quark matter redistributes equally." Jay says.

"How do we do that?" Iris asks.

"We have to do it manually," Jay says, starting towards me and the speed cannon.

"But you can't be near the stabilizers rings when they power on or you'll get sucked into the breach." Caitlin says.

"Not if I create a vortex to counteract the pull." Jay says. "Look, we cannot leave Elizabeth down there, trying to stabilize the breach on her own when we don't even know how she's doing it."

"I agree but…" Caitlin says. "You can't do both at the same time."

"I'll help," I say. Iris and Joe start to protest, but I cut them off. "If it helps Barry, I'll do whatever. Just tell me what to do Jay."

He walks down to the speed cannon, showing me the switches to flip on each ring. "Once that's done, you power up the cannon," he says back to Caitlin. "The breach should stabilize."

"And if it doesn't," Iris asks.

"Then I guess I better figure out how to keep it open." I say. I nod at him and a second later he takes off running, creating a vortex around the breach. I struggle against the wind he was creating to flip each switch. Finally, I flip the last one and Jay comes running out of the speed cannon…the breach stabilized on its own.

"Hey, you okay?" Iris says, running down to me.

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head. "I'm good."

"It's almost time," Iris says once we reach the observation deck.

"I don't care what time it is." Joe says, tapping nervously on the handrail. "After all we did to stabilize this breach, we're not closing it until they show up." He turns to look at each one of us. "You all hear me?" I nod my head, not disagreeing with him. A second later, Cisco and a girl I don't recognize come running out of the breach. "Cisco!"

"Get ready to close the breach for good!" he yells up to Caitlin at the computers. "Zoom's coming!"

He runs up the stairs past me to help her as I run down to the girl. "Hey, you okay?" I ask her. She nods her head at me, looking back at the breach.

"It shouldn't be taking this long," Cisco says, looking at the breach. Jay stands in front of the breach, holding the device to close it, ready to throw it like a football.

A second later, Barry and Harry come out of the breach. "Close it!" Barry yells at Jay. "Close it now!" Jay throws the device into the breach. We all watch it as it fluctuates, trying to close on itself. As it does, I start to get lightheaded again.

"Guys…" I try to say, but my voice was gone. It was like the breach closing was affecting me. Everyone was starting to celebrate. "Something…it's not…" I grab onto the railing behind me, trying to steady myself. My eyes land on Caitlin as she walks up to Jay, who was standing in front of the breach. Suddenly, a black hand reaches out of the breach and through Jay's chest. Everyone yells as the hand pulls him through the breach. Faster than we could blink…the breach closes and I pass out.


	7. Elizabeth Cambridge is Hiding Something

- _Barry's POV-_

"He's not dead," Caitlin mumbles, looking at the speed cannon. She turns around sharply, looking at me. "He's not dead. This isn't happening…not again."

"I need some help over here," Jesse, Harry's daughter calls out. I spin around to see her crouched near the foot of the stairs, standing over Elizabeth lying unconscious on the ground, blood trickling out of her nose. "I don't know what happened, she just-"

"Hey, Elizabeth, hey, wake up," I take her head between my hands, pushing the hair off her face. A second later, she starts to wake up. "Hey, hey, you're okay."

"What…what happened?" she asks groggily. I help her stand as she tries to. "What…where's Jay?" At his name, Caitlin starts crying even harder. Cisco wraps an arm around her shoulders and leads her out of the room. "Did Zoom…oh my-"

"We gotta open it back up," I say to Harry. "Open it up."

"We can't-"

I yell back at him. "Open it up!"

"Allen!" he yells back at me. "The breaches are closed. All the breaches are closed."

"Why can't we just open one of them?" Joe asks.

"The quark matter energy that we used to seal the breaches," Harry shakes his head slightly. "It prevents them from being opened. Ever again...there's no going back to our world."

"Wait," Jesse says, stepping closer to her father. "We're trapped here for good?"

"Yes." Harry says. Jesse backs away, trying to keep from crying.

"I can," Elizabeth says, her voice still groggy. "I can open—the breach, it'll—open-"

"Wait, what?" I say, looking down at her in my arms. Did she say she could open the breach? "What are you-"

"There's gotta be something we can do," Joe says.

"There's not," Harry says. He turns back to look at me, letting out a sigh. "It's over."

"No," I say, not accepting that.

"We need to get Elizabeth to the medic bay," Iris says. I turn to look at her. She gives me a look, telling me to focus on Elizabeth for now. I nod my head at her before picking Elizabeth up bridal-style and speeding her to the medic bay.

* * *

- _Elizabeth's POV-_

"Five, four, three, two," I watch Wally un-stacking the red cups as Iris counts down the time. Barry was sitting on the ground in front of me, staring off into space.

Wally finishes before the time runs out of the hour-glass. "Yes!" he yells in celebration. "Ain't nobody faster than me!"

Joe laughs loudly as Wally plops back down on the couch. "Well, I don't know about that." he says. I nod in agreement as Joe goes from laughing to staring at Barry. "Earth to Barry…" I grab onto Barry's shoulder, giving it a small shake. He snaps out of whatever trance he was in, looking up at Joe as he slides the stack of cups over to him. "It's your turn dude."

"Yeah," Iris says, trying desperately to keep the jovial mood up. "It's time to show this little punk who the fastest Stack Attack-er alive is." We all, except Barry, laugh in response.

"One of you guys go ahead." Barry says. "I'm gonna pass."

Joe and Iris look at Barry with concerned glances as Wally just furrows his brow at him. "You afraid of a little competition?"

"No." Barry says, shaking his head. "Just not in a gaming mood right now."

Wally is oblivious to the change in over the room. I scoot forward in the chair, resting a hand on Barry's shoulder. "Okay. Well," Wally says, still oblivious. "I guess that makes me the champ. Right?" Joe murmurs an agreement. "Uh, anyway, I'm gonna go meet up with some friends." Joe and Iris both stand up and give him a hug goodbye. As he starts to walk away, he turns back to Barry. "Maybe next time?"

Barry doesn't say anything, just waves goodbye to him before folding his hands and resting them on his lips. As Wally leaves, Iris moves to sit on the couch nest to Joe. "And I thought you were the competitive one in the family," Iris says, trying to joke with Barry.

"Yeah," Joe says, looking at Barry. "What's up Barr?"

"Nothing," Barry says shaking his head. "I…You know, I don't think Wally likes me too much."

"Well we need to fix that," Joe says. "I mean, you've been so busy running between alternate realities, you two haven't had a chance to spend any time together."

"Well, what do you want us to do together?" Barry chuckles as he shrugs his shoulders.

"Get to know each other," Iris tells him. "I mean, find something that you guys have in common."

"He's part of the family now, Barr." Joe says, nodding his head. "You're gonna have to give it a chance."

"I know," I see Barry nod his head as he looks at Joe before he stands up. When he does, he looks down at me. "I should run Elizabeth home…if you're ready to go?"

I look up at him as I nod my head. Something in his face told me I shouldn't disagree with him. Joe and Iris both hug me goodbye. Once we're by the door, Barry picks me up and we're off. Being ran somewhere by him was not a feeling I could get used to. In a few seconds, we're standing in the living room of my apartment—a trip that normally would've taken at least half an hour. Barry kisses me quickly, mumbles a good bye and then moves to leave before I grab his arm. "Woah, woah, woah, no," I say, pulling him back towards me. "You are not going anywhere Barry Allen." He turns back towards me, hanging his head before I could see the semi-sad expression he held. "What is—what happened on Earth-2? You haven't said anything-"

"What did you mean when you said you could open the breach?" He answers my question with a question.

"I don't…I don't know." I say. He asks me again. Neither one of us had talked about what had happened when he came back over a week ago. "I just…when the speed cannon destabilized, I was trying to get out of the way of Jay and Caitlin so they could fix it and when I went near it…the breach opened."

"Well, did Caitlin run any tests or-"

"No, I haven't been to the lab since then," I shake my head. "Besides, Cait's been a little too preoccupied by-" I stop short of saying his name. "Just…Barry please talk to me. What did you see on Earth-2?"

"Harry said I shouldn't say anything to you about it." Barry says. He rubs the top of his head as he walks over and sits on the couch. I follow him and sit down next to him. "Everything over there was…the same, yet different. Iris was a cop…Joe was a jazz singer…I was still a C.S.I. but it wasn't…right."

"Well, it wasn't your life Barry," I say. "The other Barry…he was happy with his life, wasn't he?" He nods his head, staring down at his hands. "Or did he also have a girlfriend that nagged him endlessly to share his feelings?" I add it with a laugh as a joke.

"No, I don't think he'd have a problem sharing his feelings," Barry says with a half-smile. "But um…I actually did not see your doppelgänger. She didn't exist…"

"I don't…I don't have a doppelganger?" I say. "Well, maybe she just wasn't in Central City-"

"That wasn't it though-" Barry shakes his head. "I, um, I took over that Barry's life for a while. It all just felt so real. My parents, my mom, she was alive. I went with Iris, to watch Joe perform and that's when it all went wrong. Some, um, metas that worked for Zoom showed up. They were looking for me. They knew that I wasn't supposed to be there. And they attacked, and Joe got caught in the crossfire, and he died." Barry finally looks as me, a single tear sliding down his face. I scoot closer to him, taking one of his hands into mine. "I knew that is wasn't him, that none of that was this life, but, watching it happen in front of me, living that? It didn't feel any different because it was all still real. And Jay warned me not to get emotionally sucked in when I went there. And then that's exactly what happened. And now Joe West on Earth-2 is dead, because I showed up."

I shake my head. "Barry, that's not your fault."

Barry just nods his head at me. "Yeah, it is my fault." More tears start to fall down his face. "It's all my fault. Zoom, Jay's death…It's all because of me. And then I just left an entire world at Zoom's mercy." I pull Barry's head to my chest as he wraps his arms around my waist, his tears soaking my shirt.

* * *

"A giant shark?" I say into the phone. "A giant-"

"Yes, shark," Barry says. "I've fought him once before. Patty, Joe's old partner, helped me take him down."

"Do you…do I need to do anything?" I ask, sitting down at my desk.

"No, Dig, Oliver's partner, is here helping out." Barry says. "Joe and Iris may need help cleaning up their living room…but nah, we got it."

"Maybe staying at work would be a good idea?" I suggest.

"That would make me feel better, yeah," Barry says, letting out a sigh of relief. I thought that was what he was angling for. "I'll call you when this is over, okay?"

* * *

I walk into the cortex, seeing Joe, Iris, Harry, Jesse, and Barry already there. "Hey," I say to them before walking over to Barry.

"Hey," Barry says to me before leaning down and kissing me. "We're just waiting for Cisco and Caitlin."

"Okay," I nod my head before moving to stand over next to Iris. "Any idea what this is about?" I ask her in a low voice.

"He's your man," she responds.

"He's your brother," I counter. She gives me a smirk before shaking her head.

"Hail, hail, the gang's all here," Cisco says as him and Caitlin walk into the cortex. "What's good?"

"Um…" Barry starts out, moving to stand in front of something covered by a cloth. "I need to apologize to you all. Um, last year, I made a choice to go back in time and save my mother." My eyebrows shoot up. I didn't know about that. "And that choice had a lot of consequences that will haunt me for the rest of my life, just like I know it haunts all of you, too." Barry takes a deep breath before continuing. "Zoom. Jay's death. It's all because of me. But I own those choices. We're the ones who opened the door to Earth-2. We're the ones who brought Zoom here. But we are also the ones who are gonna stop him."

"How?" Harry asks. "How are we going to stop Zoom, Allen?"

Barry shakes his head, looking at Wells. "I don't know yet. But those breaches aren't closed forever, and we're not done with Earth-2." He lets out a sigh as he takes a step back and pulls the cover off the display case, revealing Jay's helmet on a stand. "Jay's death was not in vain. We will meet Zoom again. And the next time, I will beat him. Whoever that monster is."

We all look at the helmet for a moment before Cisco is the first one to speak up. "Well, we better get started then."

Him, Harry, and Jesse walk to the next room, already talking about how to re-open the breach. I move to walk over to Barry, but stop when Caitlin grabs onto my arm. "Oh no missy, you are not going anywhere." I raise an eyebrow at her in confusion. "I didn't forget about the breach opening when you were next to it. We are running some tests on you."

* * *

Just like last time, all the test came back normal. "I don't want to say I told you so but…"

"Oh, you love saying that to me," Caitlin says, rolling her eyes. As she pulls up the scans, Barry walks into the lab. "She loves proving people wrong, doesn't she?"

"Oh, she lives for it," Barry says, coming to stand next to me. I nudge him in the side with my elbow. "What did you find out though?"

"Not a thing," I answer before Caitlin can. "Every single one of my scans came back normal. We even went and I stood by the speed cannon and guess what? Normal."

"Well then how is she being effected by changing timelines and essentially controlling the breaches?" Barry asks. He was more concerned than I was about it.

Caitlin lets out a sigh. "I cannot say." She turns and looks at me. "I'm sorry Elizabeth."

"It's alright," I say, waving a dismissive hand at her. I turn my head to look at Barry, who was still looking at me with a worried look. "Just try not to mess with the timeline anymore."

* * *

- _Caitlin's POV-_

"Hey, Caitlin," I turn around and see Iris walking into the Cortex, a grim look on her face and a folder in her hand. "I need to talk to you."

I was in the lab alone, Cisco, Wells, and Jesse all out at the moment. Setting my work down, I turn back to face her. "What's up?"

"Look, I just want to preface by saying, I love Elizabeth. I think she is great for Barry…" Iris says. "And I know that you two have been friends for a long time…"

"Why would you bring up Elizabeth-"

"This whole her being effected by timelines and breaches…my interest was piqued," She hands me the folder she had, continuing as I flip through it. "I started looking through her background, thinking maybe something in it could give a clue as to what was going on with her. But, prior to her enrolling in college…there is nothing on her. There was no Elizabeth Cambridge's listed in any orphanages in New York City the year she said she was born or any years after that."

She was right, the only things in the folder were records from her at college and beyond. "What are you thinking?"

"I am thinking," Iris lets out a sigh, staring at the picture of Elizabeth laying in the folder. "I think Dr. Elizabeth Cambridge is hiding something from us…"


	8. Don't You Dare Say It

"Wait that doesn't make any sense," Jesse says, staring at the screen. I had pulled up a pop culture website, trying to help her get used to our Earth. Currently, she was learning about Beyoncé. She looks over at me, arching an eyebrow. "Do they mean Senator Knowles?"

"Who?" I counter, now I was the one confused. Our lesson is cut short though when Barry zooms in the room, startling us both. He gives me an exasperated look as he walks away from his remounted suit. "How did it go?"

"Skootch," Cisco says to us as he comes into the Cortex. We both get up, Jesse walking over to her dad, I walking over to Barry.

"Well, he's not a red splat on the side of the mountain," Harry says.

" _What?"_ I say, spinning around to look at Harry and then back at Barry. Barry just shakes his head, silently telling me he'd explain later before kissing my forehead.

"That's our new definition of success?" Cisco says as he sits down at the computer me and Jesse had been at.

"It's one of them," Harry says.

"So you didn't make the canyon jump?" Jesse says, still eating popcorn.

"The _what_ jump?" I say, staring a Barry wide-eyed again. "I thought you said-"

"Nah-uh," Barry says, looking over me to Jesse. "And," he adds, looking back at me. "I'm fine. What else can we try?" He asks Cisco.

"A bigger canyon?" Cisco says with a mouthful of popcorn he had stolen from Jesse. Barry looks at him exasperatedly and I give him a death glare. "Okay, fine, no more canyons."

"I know I can crack this, I've just been going about it wrong," Barry says. "I need to find my leg up…have we factored in drag? Wells, can we re-run the simulation?"

"Let it go for now," Harry says quickly.

"Zoom's still out there," Barry says, not satisfied with Harry's response. "He's terrorizing a whole world full of people. Your world. I'm not doing this for fun."

"Barry, we've been working on this all week," Caitlin says. The team had been working and training and testing Barry nonstop. "You're tired. We're tired-"

"Yeah," Cisco says. "What we need is some downtime. Downtime leads to increased productivity, ergo we have to have fun." An idea seems to dawn on Cisco has he stands up quickly, starting to look really excited. "And the best way to have fun is for us to go out to the club. Am I right? Team Flash." He walks towards Barry, who was trying his hardest not to smile. "Let's get turnt." Barry chuckles, shaking his head as Cisco's face goes deadpan. "No, but seriously we need a break."

"I think Cisco's right," I say. "And you know if I'm saying you all need a break it's serious."

"All right," Barry says, nodding his head. "Let's go out tonight."

Cisco claps his hands running off and Jesse nods her head as she turns to her dad. "Oh, yeah! Can I go?" He gives her a look, telling her they'd talk about it in private.

"Will you be joining for the festivities?" Barry asks me as the Wells leave the Cortex.

"Hmm, I don't know," I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"Oh come on Elizabeth," Caitlin says. "When was the last time you went out?"

"I go out on dates with Barry all the time," I say, my voice raising a couple octaves.

"You know what I mean," she says, giving me a deadpan look before looking at Barry. "This girl, in college, could drink a sailor under a table. You were always guaranteed a good time if you went out with her."

"Really…" Barry says, flashing a playful grin at me.

"Well…the last time I went out I started the night in London and I kid you not when I woke up the next morning I was in Paris," I say.

"You are in charge of all my future birthday parties," Cisco says from across the room, having heard our conversation.

"Never, Cisco." I say back to him. Once we stop laughing, I turn back to Barry. "But yes, I guess I will go get 'turnt' with you."

"Great," he says, leaning in to kiss me. "But please never say that word again."

* * *

"I'm really glad you came, Jesse," Caitlin tells her as she tries to quiet the watch Wells had given her. "Even though this place is less than ideal."

Her, Caitlin, Barry, Cisco, and I were at a loud, colorful, not-really-our-scene club. I signal to the bartender for five shots and he brings them over, setting them down in front of us. "Hey," Barry says, grabbing them and passing them out. "Toast?"

"To Jay," Cisco says as we raise the glasses in the air.

"I wonder what Jay would say if he was here right now," Caitlin says, a sad note in her voice.

"'What's a Kamikaze?' and then you'd spend ten minutes explaining it," Cisco says, earning chuckles with everyone.

"And he'd say, 'Just kidding, we have those on Earth-2'." Caitlin finishes.

"Yeah, well, we don't have those so," Jesse says as she starts to lift the shot to her lips. I hadn't even thought about her age. I quickly grab the shot away from her.

"Sorry, Miss Underage," I say before taking my own shot and then hers. She stares at me wide-eyed. "None for you."

"None of us plan on getting murdered by your father tonight," Barry says, backing me up.

"Oh, he's all talk anyway." Jesse says, waving a dismissive hand in the air.

"Yo, hey guys," Iris says, approaching us with Wally. We all turn around to greet them. "What's up?"

"Glad you could make it," Barry says as he gives her a hug. "What's up Wally?"

"Hey," Wally says, looking around the place. "Interesting, uh, choice of venue. Tick-tac-toe theme is cool."

"Cisco picked it."

"Barry picked it." Each of them accuse the other of picking the place. "For real?"

"Yeah, I picked it," Barry says, admitting to it. "I don't go out much. It had four stars on Yelp so…"

"Okay, fair enough," Wally says with a smile.

"So, who's this?" Jesse says, stepping up towards Wally.

"This is Wally," Barry answers. "He's my foster…adopted…or step…This is Wall- he's my new friend. This is Jesse."

"Hi," Jesse says, a total heart eyes emoji look on her face. When she moves, the watch bings again. "Sorry…"

"It's good," Wally says, reciprocating the look. "So, Jesse, are you new in town?"

"Uh, yeah," she glances at our group briefly. "You could say that…"

"Yeah, me too," Wally says. "Are you from far away?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Jesse answers, still smiling widely at him. As she reaches up to push some hair back, her watch continues to make noise. "Um, you know, will you excuse me? I need to go powder my…watch."

We all watch as Wally watches her as she walks away. I share a chuckle with Caitlin; it was cute watching the two of them crushing on each other. "So I know I'm like your brother and half Jay's size but would you like to dance?" I hear Cisco ask Caitlin. She agrees, grabbing her purse off the bar. "You coming Lizzie?" Cisco says to me as he starts bouncing, literally, towards the dance floor.

"Only if you promise never to call me Lizzie again," I say. I turn to Barry first, who was smiling at me. "Join me?"

"Next song?" he says. I give him a brief pouty face before Caitlin starts pulling on my arm. I was getting Barry Allen on that dance floor come hell or high water.

* * *

- _Barry's POV-_

I should've guessed Elizabeth would be a dancer. I watch from the hightop table with Iris as her, Cisco, and Caitlin dance to the pulsing song. "So how's Wally doing?" I ask Iris.

"Good," she answers. "Just diving into his schoolwork."

"Good," I say. "I'm glad." I glance down at her, seeing her watching our friends dancing. The look she was giving Elizabeth though caught me off guard. "You okay?"

She seems to realize I had caught her. "Yeah, I'm good," she says, too quickly.

"Come on," I goad her. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing," she says, shaking her head. "It's nothing…I just—" She shakes her head again, taking a sip of her drink. "It's not something we need to discuss here."

"But there is something you want to talk to me about?" I say, raising my eyebrows at her. She nods her head. "About Elizabeth?"

Iris doesn't get to answer me when suddenly the unmistakable sound and sight of a speedster zooming through the place stops us. They move so fast through the club, I don't even have time to react before they are gone.

* * *

- _Elizabeth's POV-_

I let out a groan as Cisco helps me to my feet. Whoever that speedster had been knocked me down. "That wasn't our guy, was it?" I say to Cisco. He shakes his head as we both see Barry take off after the other speedster. "Who the hell was it then?"

After we get Jesse and Caitlin, the four of us head back to S.T.A.R. Labs. Not long after we arrive, Barry runs into the room. "Who the hell was that dude?" Cisco asks him

"I don't know," Barry says. "They were…too fast."

"Too fast?" I say. "For you?" Barry nods his head. "I am guessing that is not good."

"Not good at all," Barry says. "Are you getting anything on her?" He asks Cisco who was trying to track the speedster. Cisco says no. "Alright, I will run Elizabeth home…let me know if you find anything?" Cisco tell Barry he will and a second later I feel myself in Barry's arms, being run through the city.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," I say as he sits me down in my living room. "In a good way, though."

Barry smiles at me, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Hey, um, have you talked to Iris recently?" he asks.

"Hmmm, no," I say, toeing off my shoes. Barry follows behind me as I start towards my bedroom. "Well, except the little bit tonight. Why do you ask?"

"She said something tonight," he says. I raise an eyebrow at him as I start taking off my jewelry. "She said that she wanted to talk to me about you. Any idea what it could be about?"

I shake my head, reaching back to unzip my dress. "Not a clue."

"Not that I don't trust you, but there isn't anything you're not telling me is there?" Barry asks, sitting on the edge of my bed.

It immediately pops into my head what he could be talking about. "My name," I whisper. I turn around to face him. "She must have found out about my name and thought it looked a lot sketchier than it really is."

"What do you- "

"So, you know all this, but when I was baby I was found in a restaurant bathroom, no clue who my parents are," I tell him. He nods his head. "Well, since they didn't know who my parents were I didn't have a name. The Sisters at the orphanage picked one out for me. I hated the name so when I left for college, I changed it legally to Elizabeth Victoria Cambridge. Elizabeth and Victoria because they are my favorite monarchs and Cambridge because it was my dream school to attend…"

"What was your name?" Barry asks, still looking at me slightly confused.

"My name was Mary Francis Guardian." I say, deadpan. "They literally just picked random bits and stuck them together."

"Yeah, that's not that bad of a secret but…why didn't you just tell me about it before?" Barry says.

I shrug my shoulder before slipping on a tank top to sleep in. "I forget, a majority of the time that my name was anything other than Elizabeth," I say honestly. "Plus…it's just embarrassing." Barry nods his head as he stands up, walking towards me. "So, are you mad?"

"Nah, just relieved," he says. I let out a sigh as he winds his arms around my waist. "Mary-"

"Don't you dare say it," I say, covering his mouth with my hand. I can feel a smile form under my hand, his eyes crinkling. In a flash, we are both laying on the bed, Barry starting to kiss me.

* * *

Primarily, I stayed out of Barry's cases. I couldn't contribute anything to the effort, plus I had my own job to worry about. But, considering I had technically been a victim of this other speedster, I did go to S.T.A.R. Labs with the others to find out what exactly had happened to her. "So she just evaporated?" I say, staring at her suit and trying to wrap my head around the technical jargon they had just thrown at me. "From running too fast?"

"It looks like cellular degeneration." Caitlin says. "The same as Jay's."

"Jay warned us V-Nine was dangerous," Joe says. I turn around, nodding my head in agreement. I remember his protests against taking it. "At least now, we know why."

When the door opens, we all turn to look at Harry walking into the room. "Did you find Jesse?" Cisco asks him.

"She went out." He says, a tone of finality to his voice.

I look to Caitlin, who just shrugs her shoulder. "Barry, what is it?" Iris says, recapturing everyone's attention.

Barry had a pensive look as he looks at Trajectory's suit. "Just, right before Eliza disappeared, her lightning, it turned blue." Barry says.

"Right," Cisco says. "What if it's a side effect of V-Nine?"

"Yeah, but Jay took Velocity-Nine and his lightning didn't turn blue." Caitlin says.

"How fast was he running?" Barry asks, looking at me, Iris, and Caitlin.

"Not as fast as Eliza," Iris answers. I nod my head in agreement.

"All right, so what if V-Nine is what turns your lightning blue?" Barry says. "I mean, that would explain why Zoom is so much faster than me."

"If that's true, then that means he's sick, right?" Cisco asks.

"He's dying," Harry says quickly, like an epiphany had just come over him. "That's why he wants your speed. He's dying and he needs a cure."

When he says it, the same realization crashes on all of us. "Same as Jay," Barry says.

"No," Caitlin says, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Jay?" Cisco says, not believing it either. "No. He died right in front of us. Zoom killed him right in front of us."

"Cisco, we've seen a speedster be in two places at once before," Barry says.

"Wait, wait, wait," I say, making sure I was on the same thread as everyone else. "You think Jay is…" I look at Barry, who just stares at me, telling me a silent yes.

"There's one way to find out," Harry says, turning towards Cisco.

"I guess now would be a good time to tell you all," Cisco says. He looks at the ground briefly before looking at all of us. "I've been vibing Zoom."

"What?" Harry says. "For how long?"

"It started when we closed the last breach," Cisco says. "And every time it's happened, I've been near that thing." We all turn to follow his line of sight, landing on Jay's helmet. I hear Barry let out a sigh before standing up, walking past me and Iris, and swinging an object to smash the glass case around Jay's helmet. He takes it out, turning around to hand it to Cisco. We all watch Cisco as he vibes (still odd to me) Jay's helmet. After a few seconds, he lets out a breath. "No," he says, dropping the winged helmet to the ground "No, no, no."

"Cisco?" Caitlin says. "What did you see?"

When Cisco turns around, hurt and betrayal are all over his face. "I say Jay." He says. "He's Zoom."


	9. You Are Perfect

"Barry, you know what happened to Jay is not your fault, right?" Iris says.

Barry breaks out of whatever thoughts he was in and looks at her across the table. Barry, Iris, Joe, Wally when he arrived, and I were having dinner at the Wests'. "Well," Barry says, twisting his napkin around his hand. "I should've known better."

The news about Jay being Zoom had rocked our world. I was still having a hard time wrapping my head around it. "You?" Joe says, filling everyone's glass with wine. "With Wells last year, I should've learned my lesson and dug deeper into Jay. But, I didn't."

"Come on, Joe," Barry says.

"Point being, nobody saw this coming," Joe says, sitting down in his chair. "Nobody."

Barry leans back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest as the oven timer dings. Joe stands back up, disappearing into the kitchen. "Iris," I say, catching her attention. "Barry mentioned the other day that you wanted to talk to him about something concerning me…"

Iris looks at Barry and then back at me like she had been caught. "Yeah, um, I thought maybe something in your background might have something to do with the migraines around the timelines and the whole breach thing," she says, a new confidence in her voice. "And when I went to do that, I found nothing before you started college. It just struck me as really odd…"

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head. "I see how that would. And I also understand that you are protective of Barry and just want to look out for him…but I wasn't hiding anything from him or any of you." She raises her eyebrows at me. "When I left for college, I changed my name because I hated the ones the nuns had given me when I was brought to the orphanage. I've been Elizabeth Cambridge for so long now…I forget that my name was ever anything else."

"That's it?" Iris says, looking visibly relieved. I nod my head. "Oh, okay, good—" The front door opens, revealing Wally. "Hey…"

"Hey," he says, walking towards us in the dining room. "Sorry I'm late."

"No, no," Iris says. "You're just in time."

Joe brings in the food and we all start filling our plates. Once we have our food, small talk fills the space. "So, my advisor loved my engine designs," Wally says. "And even asked me to help her out with one of her engineering projects."

"Okay, big man on campus," Iris says, smiling at her brother. Joe looks at Wally with pride.

"It's not that big a deal," Wally says, shaking his head.

"It's a great opportunity and you should take it," Joe says. "Because life doesn't give those out all the time. Isn't that right Barry?"

I look over to Barry to see he isn't even eating, just staring at his lap. "Yeah," Barry says, looking up. "Yeah, what is the project about?"

"It's trying to push the speed limits with smaller propulsion systems," Wally explains.

"Yeah, that's cool," Barry says, nodding his head.

"Joe, can you do me a favor," I say, looking at the man. "Can the next person you bring in be a history person, please? I'm starting to feel a little left out here."

Everyone at the table laughs. "Where do you even start?" Joe says, directing the question at Wally.

"Well, I really like to read the journals of the classic engineers." Wally says. Now that somewhat made sense to me. "So, their engine designs, how they increased horsepower, and learn from the best, I guess."

"I think I remember seeing something at Central City Museum that may help you," I say, pointing my fork at Wally. "We have a lot of random stuff…I think I remember seeing something like what you're talking about."

"That would be great," Wally says, nodding his head.

"You read their journals?" Barry says, looking at Wally. He looked like he was working up an idea of his own.

Wally nods his head as he takes a drink of water. "I mean, it's not like I can just go and talk to Enzo Ferrari or Ferdinand Porsche, 'cause they dead, but you know, doesn't mean they can't still teach me."

I move to start eating again until Barry stands up. "I got to go."

"You haven't even touched your food," Joe says.

"Yeah, no, I'm sorry, I just…" Barry says, stammering over his words as he heads to the door. He stops about halfway and looks back at the table. "I just realized the key to a case I've been working on so I'm gonna just…Thank you, Wally." Wally just nods his head, not sure what to say as Barry points at me. "Elizabeth…I need you to come with me."

"Me?" I say, pointing at myself.

I stand up as he nods his head. "Yeah, I need your…help," he says. He gives me a look saying he'd explain more in a little bit. I quickly tell everyone bye as I follow Barry to the door, trying to catch up with him. When we get outside, he picks me up and runs us to S.T.A.R. Labs before I even get the chance to ask where we're going.

"What do you need my help with?" I ask him as he pulls out his phone and starts texting Caitlin and Cisco.

"I don't really need your help with anything," he admits. "But, what I'm about to do…will affect you…"

* * *

"You mean the old Harrison Wells? As in Eobard Thawne?" Cisco asks Barry as they walk into the Cortex. "You want him to teach you to run faster? Oh, that's rich."

"How are you gonna do that?" Caitlin asks.

"By running back to a time last year." I answer. I thought the plan was crazy…so did Cisco and Caitlin it seemed.

"And what about the other you?" Cisco asks. "The one from that other timeline?"

"I'll knock him out with something," Barry says. "I mean, it's not like he'll see me coming. And then I'll have Wells teach me."

"Barry, that's crazy," Caitlin says.

"Thank you," I say, earning a 'don't start' look from Barry.

"Nothing I've read is pointing me towards a solution," Barry says. "And if there's anybody that's figured out the key to getting faster, without V-Nine, it's him." None of us say anything. Barry looks at Cisco and Caitlin. "What do you guys think?"

"Your plan is asinine," Harry says from the doorway. I hadn't even seen him walk up.

Barry nods his head, like he had expected that reaction. "Did you find Jesse?" Cisco asks him as he walks into the cortex and sits his bag down.

"Does it look like I found Jesse?" Harry had been gone near a week looking for his daughter who had taken off. "How many times have you traveled through time?"

"A few," Barry answers him.

"Do you have any idea how many things you could screw up?" Harry says.

"All I need is one conversation with Dr. Wells," Barry says to him.

"He's not Wells. I'm Wells!" He picks up his jacket in frustration and throws it back down. "This man has been studying you for fifteen years. _For fifteen years._ And you don't think he's gonna know who you are?"

Barry shrugs his shoulders as Cisco responds. "Barry's pretty good at impersonating himself." He says, smiling at Barry despite the glare Harry was sending him. "You should've seen him over there on Earth-2." He says, looking at me and Caitlin. "I was like, 'Somebody, get this man an Oscar.'"

"He will know, Allen." Harry says. "He will know."

"All right, then what am I supposed to do?" Barry says. "I mean, how am I supposed to stop Zoom? Do you know the answer to this equation?" He motions back towards the complicated equation written out on the board.

"If Thawne figures out it is you, the timeline will be altered," Harry says. "People could die. Others could live, and no one will know who or what will be affected, but I promise you when you come back things will be different. And only you will know what those differences are. You and Dr. Cambridge."

I feel everyone look at me, so I look down at my shoes. "If that's what I have to do to stop Zoom, then so be it." Barry says. "Because if I don't, and Zoom gets my speed before I learn how to stop him, everybody I care about, everybody in this whole city, their world will never be the same, anyway."

Harry doesn't say anything else as he picks up his bag, shakes his head, and leaves the room. Barry also shakes his head, walking back over towards Cisco, Caitlin, and I. "Do you really think you can do this?" Caitlin asks him.

"Yeah, I do," Barry says without any hesitation. "When I went back last year, and I saw my mom die, it didn't affect the timeline."

"Yeah, but you haven't really time-traveled on purpose like this before," Cisco says.

"I have to do this you guys," Barry says again.

"And we've discussed the effects it will have on me," I say, finally speaking up. "We figure that it seems I'm only affected when the timeline is altered. I remember both timelines how it was and how it changed." The three of them look at me, concern on their face. "I am willing to run that risk if it helps stop Zoom."

"We can monitor you as well," Caitlin says. "Start before Barry leaves and when he returns." I nod my head at her; I was okay with that. Maybe it would get us some answers. "Then let's do it."

* * *

A few hours later I found myself laying in the medic bay, electrodes attached to my head. "Are you sure you have to do this?" I ask Barry as he stands next to my bed. I already knew the answer though. He gives me a smile, leaning down to kiss my forehead and being careful not to mess up the electrodes. "Just please don't mess up the timeline. I'd rather not get another migraine."

"I will try my best," he says. "Love you Elizabeth."

"I love you Barry." He gives my hand a squeeze before zooming out of the room.

I give Caitlin a thumbs up as she looks at me from the desk of computers. I shut my eyes, just waiting for all of this to me over. I hear Cisco say Barry was gone and then not even a second later I see Barry zoom back into the room. When he does, an unbearable pain rips through my head. Everything goes white and the electrodes on my head start burning hot. I rip them off and somehow fall off the bed in my writhing. Suddenly, I open my eyes, seeing some creature thing on top of Barry sucking the life from him. " _Stop! Get away from him!"_ I try to yell at the thing. It stops and looks up at me. Then, Hartley Rathaway shoots the creature with the gun he had been working on, killing it. Finally, I pass out.

* * *

"I am getting so sick of this," I say as I start waking up. When I open my eyes, Caitlin is standing near my bed, looking at a computer screen. "Please tell me you got something…"

"I did not," she says, her brows furrowing together. "When Barry got back, the activity in your brain spiked so high, so quickly, that you actually broke my machine."

I let out a groan. But I did notice I did not feel as hung-over-like as I had the previous time. "I seem to be recovering faster…"

"Do you remember what happened? Right after Barry got back?" Caitlin asks. I shake my head. "Well, a time wraith had followed him and-"

"Oh crap, Barry," I say. I sit up in bed, looking around for him. "Is he okay? Where is he?"

"He is fine," Caitlin says, pushing on my shoulders to make me lay back down. I hadn't even noticed she had an i.v. bag hooked up to me. "Barry is fine. He's looking over the speed equation Thawne gave him."

"What was that…thing…that attacked him?" I ask.

"A time wraith," Caitlin says. "Apparently, they appear when someone messes with the timeline too much for their liking." She stops what she was doing and turns to look at me full-on. "Elizabeth, when the wraith was attacking Barry, you yelled at the wraith. Do you remember what you said?"

I shake my head. "I just yelled at it to leave Barry alone." I answer. "Why?" I had yelled it pretty loud, why did she ask?

"That is not what we heard," Caitlin says. "Whatever you yelled at it…it wasn't in any language we know of or that we know you speak…"

I stare at her with a blank look. "So…" I blink my eye a couple times. "What does that mean?" Caitlin, yet again, doesn't have an answer for me.

* * *

When Barry finds me, I'm down by the speed cannon sitting on the small staircase staring at it. "So did Caitlin tell you about how not only do I remember every timeline," I say, feeling him walk up behind me and sitting on the stair above me. "But now it looks like I can speak a language that doesn't even exist?"

"Yeah," he says. "I, um, I actually heard you say…whatever it was you said."

As I hang my head, letting it rest on my folded arms, I feel Barry's hands wrap around my shoulders. "What is wrong with me Barry?" I say. "Not only do we not know what is causing whatever to happen to me…but now this?"

"We will figure it out," Barry says. This time, he reaches down and wraps his arms around my waist. "I promise you…we will."

"What if," I wipe away a silent tear that had escaped. "What if there is something wrong with me? What if I'm-"

"No," Barry cuts me off, his lips right next to my ear. "You are perfect. I am not losing you. We will figure out what is happening to you and we will fix it or control it…whatever needs to be done." He kisses the spot behind my ear, instantly calming me. "I love you Elizabeth…we'll figure this out."

I nod my head, pulling at his arms to wrap them tighter around me. I may have been scared shitless by whatever was going on with me, but, I knew in that moment that no matter what as long as I had Barry, everything was going to be okay.


	10. Caitlin is Uber Mad at Me Right Now

"Man, I love it when you train in Keystone City," Joe says, bringing a beer to me and Barry each along with one for himself. Barry and I both agree with him. The pizza Barry had brought back from Keystone City was really good. "You two going to stick around after dinner? Me and Wally are going to watch Formula One."

"Nah," Barry says, sitting his beer back down on the table after taking a drink. "I need to get back to the lab. I'm still trying to figure out a way back to Earth-2."

"Can't you just stick Wells on it?" Joe asks.

"No, he refused," Barry says. "Doesn't want me or anybody else opening the breach."

"Well I can't believe I'm saying this about a man I shot at and punched in the face," Joe says. "But I think you should listen to him."

"Why?" Barry asks.

"Barry, it worries the hell out of me," Joe says. "The thought that you want to go back to Earth-2"

"I'm faster now." Barry leans forward, resting his arms on the table. "I'm faster than I've ever been. Faster than Zoom; I can take him down."

"All I'm saying is you already escaped the hornet's nest once," Joe says, reaching for another slice of pizza. "Why go kick it again?"

Barry looks like he's going to say something else, but Wally walks in the front door. "Hey, Wally," Joe says to him. "We got pizza all the way from Keystone City."

"Hope it's cool I brought my laundry over," Wally says, sitting a large duffel bag down in the hallway before walking up to the table.

"Of course." Joe says. "Barry used to do his laundry here all the time when he was in college."

"That's 'cause those machines in the dorm always eat your quarters, right?" Barry says, looking up Wally with a smile.

"So then what's your excuse for bringing your laundry over to my place now?" I say to Barry, raising an eyebrow at him. Joe chuckles as Barry just shakes his head at me.

"Actually, I'm not living on campus anymore." Wally says. We all stop laughing as we look at him.

"What?" Joe says, shock on his face. "Since when?"

"Since room and board became way more expensive than I thought." Wally explains.

"Man, I can help you out with that." Joe says. "I mean, I figure your money must be tight after paying all your mother's medical bills. How much more is it?"

Wally looks down for a moment before picking his head back up and shaking it. "No, it's, uh…it's cool."

"Come on Wally, let me help you out." Joe says, still looking up at his son. "Plus I got that mini-fridge in the garage. You can use that, too, if you want."

"Joe, I'm good, really," Wally says. He takes a step back, picking up his bag again. "Let just put these in real quick."

Joe just nods his head as Wally leaves the room. "Man, I can't figure that kid out sometimes." Joe says, reaching for his beer. "I wonder if his doppelganger's that complicated."

Barry and I look at each other at the same time. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I ask him. He nods his head, reaching under the table to grab my hand. Barry all but pulls me towards the door. "We'll call you later Joe!" I yell back at the man staring after us like we were crazy.

* * *

When we walk into the Cortex, Cisco and Caitlin were working on a very complicated looking equation. "Wow," Barry says, looking at it. "Any ideas?"

"Well," Cisco says, pressing his nose against the clear board. "The best plan we've come up with so far is to set off a nuclear warhead next to the city's electrical grid. So…"

"Yeah, not going to do that," I say, looking from them to Barry.

"But I do think I have an idea," Barry says. "Do we know where Wells is?"

"In his workshop," Caitlin says, standing up from her chair. Her and Cisco both move around the board to stand in front of us. "What's your idea?"

"Come on," Barry says, waving for them to follow him.

"Wait," I say before they start to leave. "Which of these computers can I use without breaking something?"

"Yeah," Caitlin says, chuckling at me. She knew me and my apprehension to technology. "You can use this one right here." I thank her before her, Barry, and Cisco leave the room. When they're gone, instead of using the computer, I leave the Cortex and head down to the speed cannon. I agreed with Barry, leaving a whole world at the mercy of Zoom was wrong. When I finally get down to the speed cannon, I'm not entirely sure what to do. I want to try and open the breach on my own; I had affected it when it was open…why shouldn't I be able to do it now. No one, not even Barry, knew of my plan. I stand in front of it, holding my hand out, concentrating on where the breach should be, but feel nothing. Next, I move and stand where the breach was. This time, I start to feel something. A tingling sensation was coursing over my body and I felt light…like I could float right up to the ceiling. Then, suddenly, I felt super hot, as if someone were holding a million fire pokers against my skin. I let out a scream of pain, moving out of the speed cannon. As soon as I'm out of it though, the feeling and the pain disappear; Barry also rockets into the room.

"What's wrong?" he says, looking around the room. "What's going on?"

When I start to answer, Cisco, Caitlin, and Harry come into the room also asking what was going on. Barry has his hands on my shoulders, looking me up and down trying to find any injury. "I'm fine, I'm fine," I say, shaking my head. "I was…I was being an idiot…"

"Elizabeth, what did you try to do?" Caitlin says, walking down the stairs. She stares at me with an accusatory stare; she already knew what I was trying to do.

"I—" I let out a sigh, taking a step back from Barry. "I tried to open the breach on my own—"

" _What?"_

" _Are you out of your mind?"_

" _What were you thinking?"_

They all react exactly how I thought they would. "I just, I thought I could do it," I say. "When the breach was open last time I seemed to have some sort of…control…over it."

"But we don't know how you did that," Caitlin says. "It is too dangerous for you to try to use a power you don't even know how to control."

"I know that Caitlin, I know," I say, shaking my head. "But…I think I was getting it to work…"

"What?" Barry says. His look had slipped a little from concern to very mild intrigue.

I step back in front of the speed cannon, showing them how I first tried it. "When I wasn't feeling anything, I moved up here," I say, walking into the middle of the speed cannon. Caitlin and Wells both tell me to get out of it. I ignore them though. "Then, I just concentrated really hard on the breach and-" The tingling feeling started up again. "There's this like…tingling…sensation running over my skin right now. After that the-" Right on cue, the burning feeling returned and I propelled myself out of the speed cannon, Barry catching me.

"What just happened?" he asks.

"I don't know," I shake my head. "I start to feel light like I'm…I don't know and then this burning sensation just—"

"No more," Caitlin says, stepping in. "Okay, do not go back in that speed cannon. You could be doing irreparable damage to yourself, trying to use and control something that you don't even know what it is."

"Okay," I say, an edge to my voice. "I won't do it again, but—"

"No," she cuts me off, clearly upset by me trying to open the breach. "Get to the med-bay, now."

I let out a puff of air, annoyed at Caitlin and her protectiveness. I knew Caitlin was just being protective and caring about me. She walks out before me. I look up at Barry, who was giving me a concerned look. "You better, um," He looks briefly at the speed cannon before looking at me again. "You better go get checked out." I nod my head before patting his arm and walking out of the room.

* * *

As I had guessed, I was fine. Everything looked normal, but that still didn't satisfy Caitlin. "I think I'm just going to stay away from the lab for a little while," I say to Barry over the phone. I was walking through the archives at working, trying to find the stuff I had told Wally about.

"I don't think—"

"Caitlin is uber mad at me right now," I tell him. "It's worse than that time we stayed out all night, she overslept, and missed an exam; which she blamed me for. Besides, I don't have the knowledge needed to help you all. I'd just be in the way."

Barry lets out a sigh. "What about hanging around for moral support?"

"Oh, now you're just trying to lay a guilt trip on me," I say, climbing up a ladder. Barry chuckles a little. "If you really want me there though, just ask."

"I'll call you if I need anything," Barry says. "Love you."

"Love you too," I say before hanging up the phone before sliding it into the pocket of my dress.

After a couple more hours of searching, I finally find the manuscripts I was looking for. I call Joe, asking where Wally was. He tells me that he's probably at the house, finishing moving his stuff in. I thank him before hanging up again. When I hang up, my phone dies. I knew I should've brought my charger with me. After work…hours after I normally leave, I grab the manuscripts for Wally and head out. I knock on the door a couple times, waiting with them in my arm. "Hey, Elizabeth," Wally says as he opens the door. "What are you doing here? Barry's not—"

"Yeah, I know, he's at work," I say. "I actually came to see you. Joe told me where you were; so I came bearing presents."

When I hold the manuscripts up for him to see, he smiles widely at me. "Awesome, yeah, come on in," He steps to the side, letting me pass by him.

"Now, I'm not sure this is exactly what you need," I say, walking towards the dining room table. "But, I know they talk about speed and how to generate it." I set them down on the table for Wally to start looking at. "You are free to use them and cite them. But, if anyone asks, you came to the museum to look at them. I did not bring them here."

"If you could get in trouble for this," Wally says. "Then I can just come-"

"No, hey, don't worry about it," I say, waving a dismissive hand at him. "I wouldn't actually get in any real trouble; just a slap on the wrist; one of the perks of being in charge of the place. So, have a go at them." He thanks me again as he sits down at the table. "I'm going to grab something to drink, do you want-" I'm cut off by a blue light suddenly racing through the room. Wally and I both try in vain to get away from it, but we couldn't. I knew it was a speedster: Zoom. Furniture was smashing around us, we were both falling over each other, trying to help the other one escape. When we're almost to the front door, a hand grabs me around the neck, pulling me back in the air.

My feet kick in the air as Zoom lifts me, bringing my face directly level with his. I beat at his hands with my fist, gasping for air as my airway was being cut off. "I will get what I came for," he says, his demonic sounding voice sending chills down my spine. I vaguely hear Wally yell at Zoom to let me go as I lose consciousness.

* * *

- _Barry's POV-_

I try to call Elizabeth's phone again, but it goes straight to voicemail. When Iris, Joe, and I arrive back at the house though, I see her car sitting out front. "Told you she was probably here," Joe says, hearing my sigh of relief. "She said she had something to give Wally."

I nod my head as Iris unlocks the front door. "I mean, we had him," I say for what feels like the thousandth time. "He was right there."

"I know," Joe says. We follow Iris into the house but then stop when she does. The living room was trashed, furniture broken everywhere. Joe looks back at me and points up stairs. A panic starts to rise in me as I zoom upstairs to check it out but find nothing or no one. When I come back down, I see Joe and Iris flipping the dining room table off Wally. "Hey, Wally, hey, wake up son." Joe was lightly slapping his face, trying to rouse him. Wally finally starts to come to, letting out a groan as he sits up. He looks around once and then instantly becomes more alert.

"He—he took her," he grabs at Joe's jacket, still looking around the room. "That blue speedster—he took her—"

"Who, Wally? Slow down," Joe says, trying to calm him. Wally didn't need to answer the question though…we all knew who Zoom had taken. "Who did he take?"

"Elizabeth," he says. Irish immediately looks up at me. "He took her. He said, 'her life for the Flash's speed'. How does she even know-"

I don't even wait to hear what else Wally says. Once I'm outside, I race back to S.T.A.R. Labs, running faster than I ever had before. "He took her," I say as I run into the Cortex. Cisco, Caitlin, and Harry all turn to look at me. "Jay took Elizabeth."

* * *

- _Elizabeth's POV-_

I'm woken up by the sound of knocking. As I open my eyes, I see that I'm in some sort of cell inside of a cave. A shackle attached to my wrist has me chained to a large pillar in the middle of the cell. I look around, trying to find the source of the knocking. In the cell next to me is a person wearing an iron mask, knocking in some sort of pattern on the glass of his cell. "Where am I?" I ask him. I should've known I wouldn't get a response. Instead, the man continues tapping. It almost sounded like Morse code, but different. I look outside my cell at the rest of the place I was in. It looked as if it had been deserted for years. I desperately wanted to yell for help, but I knew that would do no good. A second later, Zoom comes running up to the bars of my cell. Startled, I fall back against the pillar I was chained to. "You made a really big mistake taking me-"

"I have made no mistake," he responds.

"When I get out of here-" I knew any threat I made would be hollow, but it was the only thing I could think to do.

"There is only one person who can help you now." Zoom says. I try to retreat as he opens the gate to my cell. "And my guess is he won't take long to make his decision."

"Barry will never give you his speed," I say. Zoom walks towards me, his size and demeanor intimidating me. "You are a monster and he will-" The back of his hand flies across my face, sending me to the ground. I cry out in pain as I feel his foot kick me in the stomach.

"You were saying?"

* * *

Not even two hours later, Jay comes back into my cell. "Time to go," he says. I barely move as he undoes the shackle on my wrist and picks me up, his hand gripping tightly around the back of my neck. He looks at me for a second, blood covering my face and I'm sure what was a broken nose, before speeding us away. Everything flashes by us in a blur as Zoom runs us through the breach and then through Central City. He finally comes to a stop in the Cortex of S.T.A.R. Labs.

When I open my eyes, they immediately land on Barry; I finally realized what was going on. "No, Barry, you-"

Zoom's grip on the back of my neck tightens, shutting me up. "We had a deal." He says, looking straight at Barry. I glance around the room at everyone else, Joe, Iris, Harry, Cisco, and Caitlin, all aiming guns at Zoom except Caitlin.

Barry stares at Zoom with zero emotion on his face as he walks up to stand in front of him. "My speed for Elizabeth's life." Barry says. "Hand her over and it's yours."

I start to protest again, but Zoom stops me. "Be quiet or he won't even have a chance to give me his speed before I kill you." He hisses in my face.

Zoom looks around the room once before harshly throwing me to ground, eliciting a cry of pain from me. Caitlin and Barry are both immediately at my side, helping me stand up. "Get her cleaned up," Barry says to Caitlin, his face was still devoid of emotion. Caitlin moves me back to a table where she starts wiping some of the blood away. "Let's get this over with." I hear Barry say.

I follow Caitlin's line of sight when she lets out a gasp. Zoom was taking his mask off, confirming what we already knew. Jay smugly looks around the room, even seems to lets out a snort of laughter when he sees me. Caitlin quickly assesses my injuries, doing what minimum she could before we all go to the work shop where the super-treadmill was. "This thing is how I stole the Flash's speed the first time," Harry says grabbing a device and showing it to Jay. "Now all he needs to do is run and his Speed Force will transfer into this vial. But only as long as I calibrate it."

"Get to work," Jay tells him, the smug smile still on his face.

Harry takes a step towards Jay, holding his gun up towards him. Barry notices and stops him. "Wells."

He looks around the room once before lowering the gun. "One day, I'm gonna knock that smug expression clean off your face."

Jay just looks as Harry moves to a table to start calibrating the vial. I look over at Barry who turns and leans against a table. "So this was your plan all along, huh?"

"Ever since the skies parted and showed me another world with another speedster." Jay says. "Once I saw you, I came here, figured out what I had to do."

"How are you still alive?" Iris asks him. "We saw you die."

"You did," Jay said, nodding his head.

"So what was that?"" Cisco asks. "A speed mirage?"

As Jay lets out a laugh, I flinch back. "Speed mirage? No." he moves, sitting on one of the stools. "Even I'm not that fast. I knew that I couldn't be on two earths at the same time. So I went back in time and I met another version of myself."

"You're a time remnant." Cisco says, piecing it together. "Like the Reverse-Flash."

"I also knew that the only way to make Barry become faster was if you all witnessed your old pal, Jay, die." Jay says.

"When did you decide to do that?" Iris asks.

"Oh, once you closed all the breaches, went to Earth-2," Jay says. "Believe me, getting my time remnant to agree to me murdering him…" Jay lets out another chuckle. "Took a bit of convincing. But once he saw the…Well, the genius in my plan, he was all for it."

"Who's the man in the iron mask?" Barry asks about the man Jay was still holding hostage.

Jay looks at Barry, smiling at him. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Why the charade?" Joe asks. "Running around dressed like the Flash?"

"To give people hope, Detective." Jay answers him.

"Hope?"

"So I can rip it away from them," Jay says. "It's so fun pretending to be a hero." Jay says, standing up. As he starts walking towards the center of the room, I subconsciously try to back away from him. Barry's hand comes to rest on the small of my back and I move a step closer to him.

"You are no hero," Caitlin says in a flat voice. Jay's head spins to look at her, his face falling a tiny bit. "You're nothing but a monster."

Jay stares at her for a moment, as if in a trace. When Harry comes back over with the vial, he snaps out of it. Harry looks over at Barry and nods his head once. Without another word, Barry walks across the room and into the other room, stepping onto the treadmill. We all gather in front of the window to watch. "Barry…" I say. He didn't have to do this. Defeating Zoom was more important than me.

"It's alright Elizabeth," he says, not even looking at me. I hold back a sob as I feel Iris' arm come around my waist; I reciprocate by wrapping one of mine around hers. After Barry presses a button on the monitor next to the treadmill, he starts running. We can all see the monitor on the desk in front of Harry as it tracks how much of Barry's speed it is draining.

As the number climbs, Barry starts to slow down. "He's slowing down," Iris says. I hold onto her tighter to keep myself from falling over.

"The Speed Force is leaving his body," Harry explains.

"He's becoming human again," Cisco says. Soon, Barry was running at normal speed and then stops all together, falling off the treadmill. I drop my arm from around Iris and run into the room.

"Barry," I grab underneath his arm, helping him sit back up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he says breathlessly. "I'm okay." He looks past me at Jay, who was taking the vile from Harry. Without a second thought, he injects himself with the speed. His eyes turn red as he lets out a yell. Then, he runs towards us, grabbing Barry around the neck. Jay takes Barry and pins him against the wall, keeping him off the ground so that he could barely breath.

"Thank you, Flash," Jay says, sneering at Barry.

"Jay, stop," Caitlin yells at Jay as he chokes Barry. Everyone else runs into the room as well, aiming guns at Jay. "Please. If anything you ever said to me was true, or anything we ever shared was real, then please just let him go. Please. I know some piece of you did care for me, so if you have any humanity left, then please, let him go."

Jay stares at Caitlin and then Barry for a moment more before throwing Barry to the ground. I move towards Barry, making sure he was okay as he choked and coughed, gasping for air. A second later, Jay runs from the room, taking Caitlin with him. We all stand and look towards the doorway, calling after our friend.


	11. You Have a Family

Life with human Barry was…different. Not to be ironic but our lives had slowed down. Barry was coping as well as he could. A guilty feeling gnawed at my stomach though. I felt guilty for Barry losing his speed. He reassured me, almost daily, that he did not blame me though. If anything, he felt guilty that Jay had taken me. He definitely felt guilty that Jay had taken Caitlin. He worked tirelessly on how to get her back, on top of completing his work for CCPD. I could see the change in his energy levels. There were a lot of nights that I would call him, to find out from Joe that he had passed out on the couch before he could even take his shoes off. Barry Allen was no longer the Flash. It was an adjustment everyone had to get used to.

"I really hate this thing," Cisco says as he takes his Vibe glasses off. He stares down at Jay's helmet in disgust, moving to set it on a table. "I just want to put a dent in it."

"Cisco, did you see Caitlin in your Vibe?" I ask him. Him, Barry, Joe, Cisco, and I were in the Cortex.

"Zoom's got her in his lair," Cisco answers with a sigh. "She's scared, but she's okay."

"Thank God," Barry says. "All right, we need to get her back."

"I know," Joe says. "But without your speed, there's no way any of us can get through that breach that Cisco found at the hospital. I just don't think there's anything we can do right now."

Harry walks into the lab, his gun sling over his shoulder. "That's right." He says. "And it's thanks to you, Allen."

"Enough," Joe says, before anyone else can. I hang my head and wished I could sink into a wall. I knew he was referring to Barry choosing me over his speed. "We're all suffering here."

"That's right, that's right, Detective." Harry says. "We're all suffering. We've lost Snow, you've lost your speed, and now?" He lets out a humorless chuckle. "Now, Zoom can come through that breach any time he wants. And that, Allen, that's on you."

"Hey, that's on all of us, okay?" Iris says, defending the choice Barry had made. "We made these decisions as a team."

Harry turns around, picking up his bag, and looking at each of us (me the longest) before looking at Barry. "No, we didn't."

"And where are you going?" Barry asks him. I literally press myself against a wall, willing it to swallow me up.

"I'm gonna go find Jesse before Zoom does." Harry says. "Again."

"Wait, you found her?" Cisco says. "How?"

"Cellular dead zones, Ramon," Harry says, starting to sound annoyed. "People from my Earth vibrate at a different frequency than people from your Earth. They leave cellular dead zones wherever they go."

"That's why I'm always dropping calls around you?" Cisco says.

"Okay, so, wait. How did that help?" Iris asks.

"I tracked the dead zones created by Jesse since she got here and I followed the trail, it's easy." Harry says, slinging his bag onto his back.

"What?" Iris says. I think she was majorly annoyed by Wells now. "So, you think you're gonna need that gun to convince her to leave with you?"

"You're full of questions today, aren't you, West?" Harry says looking at her. "The gun is not for my daughter. She's not the only person from a different Earth hiding out on this one. If I run into them, I'm gonna need this."

"Okay," Cisco says as Harry starts to leave the Cortex. "But you're also going to need some help."

"Really?" Harry says, stopping to face Cisco. I don't miss his eyes cutting to me again. "You know anyone with the speed to help me, Ramon?"

"Great," Cisco says after Wells leaves. "I'll be in my workshop." I watch Cisco walk out as well.

"Don't listen to Wells, Barry," Joe says. I reach up and wipe away a couple tears that had leaked out. "This ain't all on you."

"No, it's not," I say from across the room. I had pressed myself so far into the corner I think they forgot I was there. Joe, Iris, and Barry's eyes all cut to me as I walk towards the middle of the room. "I think I should probably stay away for a while. I don't-"

"No," Barry says, shaking his head. "None of this is on you. At all."

"But why-" I look away from him, shaking my head. This was an almost nightly argument with us. "I wasn't worth losing your speed over. Worth losing-"

"Yes you are." I halfway expected to hear Barry say it, but it was Iris who had stepped forward. "Barry loves you. We love you. You are family Elizabeth. You may think that because you don't know all the science and technology that these guys know that you weren't worth saving, but you are." She grabs my arms with her hands, making sure I was looking her directly in the eye. "I don't ever what to hear you say that again. Okay?" I nod my head a couple of times as a couple more tears fall.

* * *

"Oh, hey," I say, walking into the Cortex. Jesse was off in the lab, where Caitlin usually worked. "You're back."

"Yeah," she says, turning to face me. "My dad-"

"Barry told me," I say. "I'm sorry. They'll get him back though."

Jesse nods her head as she turns back to look through the microscope. "And I'm sorry also." I ask her what she means. "For Zoom taking you…and for how my dad has apparently been treating you."

I nod my head. "Can't say I blame him though." I say, sitting down on a stool. Jesse looks at me again, raising an eyebrow at me. "I mean…we're all in more danger now since Barry doesn't have his speed. And I just…" I shake my head. "I'm just not used to someone caring for me the way Barry does. I mean, my own parents didn't even want me. They left me in a Pagliai's Pizza bathroom when I was eight months old. I grew up with nuns that constantly called me ungrateful. And now…"

"You have a family," Jesse finishes for me. I nod my head. "You are an amazing person Elizabeth. Barry is crazy about you. You're smart and funny. And my dad knows that. Before we went out a couple weeks ago he told me I'd be wise to follow your lead. He's just…"

"Because I was chosen over Barry's speed, his daughter is in danger now." I say. "I know. It's just hard to hear because it is exactly what I've been telling myself since Zoom showed up in Joe's house." Jesse doesn't say anything else, just gives me a sad look before returning to the microscope. A while later, Barry, Cisco, Joe, and Iris come back; Barry limping slightly and clutching at his side. "What happened?" I ask as I follow Barry and Iris into the med-bay.

"He-man threw a barrel at ya' boy," Cisco calls out from the computer desk.

" _A what?"_ I say, spinning around to face Barry who was now sitting on the bed. "He threw a-"

"I'm fine, Elizabeth," Barry says. "Just- eh, I'll be fine."

I purse my lips as Iris wraps an ace bandage around Barry's chest. "So, his genes have actually mutated," Jesse says as Iris finishes up. She had told me she was trying to figure out this new meta's powers. Iris and I follow Barry out of the med-bay as he walks back into the Cortex. "I ran the DNA from the blood sample Barry found and the functional myostatin in his cells is essentially gone. I mean, giving him super-strength."

"Guys, there's something else." Barry says. "Um, I saw him age. Right in front of me."

"Yeah, he's suffering from oxidative stress." Jesse says. I give her a confused look that she catches. "It means the protein and the DNA in his body are being ravaged by oxidants."

"So what?" Joe says. "He needs to up his blueberry intake?"

"No," Jesse says with a chuckle. "It means, the more he exerts himself, the faster he ages."

"So, if we can get him to exert too much energy, then—" Barry says.

"Then he'll become old and weak," Iris finishes the thought.

"And how do you think we're going to do that?" I ask. "You can't be a human punching bag until he turns into Grampa Simpson." I watch Barry as he walks towards his suit.

"I think we can fix that," Cisco says. I turn around quickly to face him. He points a finger at Jesse, starting to move towards his lab. "Jesse, I'm gonna need some of that quick thinking of yours."

Joe's arm nudges me slightly before he points at Barry who was still staring at his suit. "I gotta get back to the station." Joe says before he leaves. Iris goes to leave with him, saying she needed to get back to CCPN and see what they had on this meta.

Once they're gone, I walk over and stand beside Barry. "You okay?" I ask him.

Barry looks at me before letting out a sigh and looking back at his suit. "No. Not really." He says. "You know, Iris was the first person I saved after I got my powers. We were out on a walk and we were talking about Eddie, her boyfriend at the time, and she was with him and I was thinking to myself how I'd missed a lot while I was in that coma. And then, all of a sudden, these cars came at us, and it was like the world froze. Like she and I were the only two people in the world. I didn't even know what I could do yet. But I knew that I could save her. And I did." Barry lets out another sigh as he grabs onto his ribcage. "I don't regret for a second giving up my speed for you. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I just…I just don't even know who I am anymore, or who I'm supposed to be."

"You're supposed to be the same guy that you've always been." I say. I turn to face him, seeing him shaking his head as he hangs it. "Suit or no suit, you are a hero. Being a hero isn't from powers, it's from here." I lift my hand and place it over his heart. He turns towards me, placing his hand over mine. "You're still a hero Barry Allen. You're my hero."


	12. I Knew I Wasn't Worth It

"I need a breather," Barry says, stepping off the treadmill. I hop off the table I had been sitting on, following him into the Cortex.

"I didn't think this hologram thing was going to work," I say, digging around in my take-out box for the good bits. "But so far, so good!" This, Barry using the hologram to send the Flash around town, was our new date-nights, so I was eating.

Cisco lets out a chuckle as I return the high-five he was reaching for. "I mean, I figured if they could get Tupac rapping again at a concert, we could definitely get The Flash running around Central City."

"It's not going to last," Harry says as he walks into the Cortex.

"There it is," I mumble into my Chinese.

"It's not gonna be long before someone figures out, 'Oh wait, you never say anything, you never touch anything, or wait, you never go indoors.'' Harry says.

"Okay." I say, stopping his tirade. I still hated talking to Wells, afraid he was going to throw this whole thing in my face again. "Well, without Barry's speed, this is as good an idea as any."

"Actually, I beg to differ," Harry says. I raise an eyebrow at him as he walks towards Barry. "I think a better idea, instead of playing hoodlums and holograms, would be to rebuild the particle accelerator to get Barry's speed back."

I shake my head as I sit the empty carton the desk behind me. Barry had told me about Harry's crazy plan. "Yeah, Wells that's what you keep saying." Barry says to him. "Look at what that explosion did to this city."

"Not to mention, the last time we tried something like that, we blew a hole in the universe and created, like, fifty portals to your Earth." Cisco says.

"Which is exactly how Zoom and his henchmen got here in the first place." I add.

"I told you." Wells says, turning around so he could look at all three of us. "I know how to contain the explosion.

"Really?" Barry says, his voice muffled by his face in his hands.

"Yes." Harry says quickly.

Barry lets out a sigh before looking at Harry. "You know how to contain a dark matter explosion that last time just radiated all of Central City? You tried this on your Earth, remember? Didn't go so well."

"And even if you can't contain it," I say as Barry stands up. "I thought you said that Barry couldn't tap into the Speed Force anymore."

"It wasn't connected the first time he got his powers." Harry says. "Look, I have your Wells' data. The Harrison Wells from this Earth, I have his science. I know what chemicals need to be in your body. I know how the lightning needs to bond with the dark matter from the particle accelerator explosion. I can recreate the circumstances to get you your speed back. This will work. Your subterfuge, it's not gonna last. But more importantly, it's not gonna save Snow." I look down as he looks at all of us. "It's not gonna get your Caitlin back. You want to be ready, should Zoom return, if Zoom returns, when Zoom returns, there is only one way to do it, and that's by getting your speed back." Harry looks around at us all one more time before walking into the workshop connected to the Cortex.

I stay silent as Barry and I leave, except to tell Cisco bye. The drive to my apartment was silent also. "So I guess you don't agree with the whole getting my speed back idea?" Barry says as we walk into my apartment.

I let out a sigh, leaning against the back of my couch. "No, I don't," I say, shaking my head. "Getting your speed back would be wonderful but this is just too risky." Barry doesn't say anything as he walks over towards me and stands in front of me. He reaches down, pulling me up my waist to hold me against him. "Are you staying tonight?" I ask him. He nods his head, reaching up to move some of my hair behind my ear. "Do you need up at a certain time?"

"No," he says. "I'm actually going to drive out and see my dad." I nod my head, wrapping my hands around the back of his arms. "Are you going to work tomorrow?"

I shake my head. "I'm not sure." I say. "Come on, let's go to bed." Barry reaches down to kiss me before suddenly picking me up and carrying me to the bedroom.

* * *

When I walk into the Cortex the next evening, I see Barry and Iris talking with an older man that I immediately recognized from pictures. In previous relationships, I had never, not once, met the parents. It just wasn't something I was comfortable with. I had yet to meet Henry, Barry's father. Not because I was uncomfortable with it, but because it made me nervous. "Hey, Barry," I say, grabbing his attention. "I got your text to come over. Thanks for that by the way because the new volunteer was driving me nuts trying to learn to use our computer system. I mean, I am not the most technologically advanced person out there but even I can figure out how to-"

"Elizabeth, babe, hey," Barry says, cutting off my rambling. "Yes, I did because I want you to meet someone. This is my dad, Henry Allen. Dad, this is my girlfriend-"

"Dr. Elizabeth Cambridge," Henry says, stepping forward to shake my hand. "It's lovely to meet you. I actually read one of your books when I was, um-"

"That's so cool." I say, smiling widely at him. "I'm glad to hear you have good taste in books though. I keep trying to get Barry to read them, but he keeps putting it off, reading science books instead. Which isn't bad, I mean, at least he's still reading, but-" I finally stop when Barry lightly nudges me. Henry just smiles kindly at me. "I'm sorry. I ramble when I'm nervous. I don't…ever do the whole meet the parents thing so…"

"It's alright," Henry says. "Barry told me. I'm just happy to finally meet you."

"You too," I say. "How long are you staying for?"

"Maybe for good," Barry answers.

"Yeah," Henry says. "I figure I've stayed away from my son long enough."

* * *

"Caitlin is with Zoom," Joe tells us after telling us that Zoom had just taken over the CCPD.

"Why would he bring her here?" Iris asks.

"To show power," Harry says. "It's exactly what he did on my Earth."

"What are you talking about?" Joe asks.

"First thing he did was murder people." Harry says. "Slaughtered a bunch of policemen, then recruited every meta-human he could find. And those that disobeyed, he killed, too."

"Where are the police now?" Barry asks Joe.

"Outside the precinct."

"He'll kill them, Joe." Harry says. "He'll kill them all."

"Not with Caitlin with him." Joe says. "She talked him out of killing everyone when he took over CCPD."

"That's what we're gonna rely on?" Harry says. "Snow talking him out of it? Joe you need to get those guys out of there."

"What if they set up at Jitters?" I offer up. Everyone looks at me, indicating that it was a good idea.

"It's a good idea," Joe says, looking slightly impressed. "It's just a block away from the precinct."

"And then what?" Harry says, growing more agitated. "What happens next? You saw what Zoom did on my Earth. He will do the exact same thing here, Barry. We need to get you your powers back."

"There must be another way." Henry says.

"There's not." Harry says. "There's not." Harry shakes his head as he walks out of the Cortex.

"I'm gonna get word to Singh." Joe says. "Get him to set up a task force at Jitters."

"And then what?" Iris asks him as he starts to leave.

"I don't know," he says, still walking towards the exit. "But I'm gonna make sure Wally and Jesse are safe."

* * *

A little while later, I found myself walking down the hallway, talking with Henry. "Well, I'm working on a companion book to the one you read. It'll explore more of the life of Anne Boleyn. I really think there is an untapped story to her, especially her relationship with her daughter and step-daughter."

"When it comes out, I want the first copy," Henry says.

"You got it," I say with a chuckle as we near where the device Harry wanted to use on Barry was. Inside, we hear Joe and Harry talking about Barry. Without even discussing it both of us turn into the room.

"You shouldn't have to convince anyone to do anything against his will," Henry says as we walk down the stairs towards the men. "Joe, we're talking about Barry, right? I mean, I can't…I can't imagine you don't feel the same way."

"Henry, right now, I don't know what the right thing to do is." Joe says.

"Seems clear to me," I say.

"This isn't just about your son, Henry," Harry says, seeming to ignore me. "This is about the people in Central City about saving those people. This is about stopping Zoom."

"Your daughter is safe." Henry says, turning towards Harry. "This could kill my son."

"I'm not gonna let that happen," Harry looks away from his board for a moment.

"The last time he was struck by lightning he was in a coma for nine months." I say. "How did that happen?"

Harry shakes his head, sitting the marker down before turning towards us. "I know what I'm doing, Dr. Cambridge." He says. "You may not understand it, but I know what I am doing." He throws me another glance before turning back to the board. "I shouldn't be shocked that you're against it-"

"Are you saying that I wanted Barry to lose his speed?" I say, almost shouting. "Yes, Wells, you have figured out my plan. I plotted with Zoom to have him kidnap me, almost kill Wally, and then beat the crap out of me." I was full on shouting now. Everything I had been holding in the past weeks was coming out now. "You heard me begging Barry not to give up his speed for me. I knew I wasn't worth it; a fact you've been sure to remind me of every damn day since then. And you know what I even agreed with you. I don't have the background or education to help you guys with any of this stuff. I know that as far as the team is concerned I am essentially useless. God, do I know that. But do you want to know what else," I step towards him, him staring at me blank faced. "I know better now. I know that Barry did what he did because he loves me and that is what you do for the people you love, you sacrifice for them, you protect them. That is why I think it is a stupid idea to recreate the particle accelerator explosion because I love Barry and I am trying to protect him-"

"Guys…" Joe cuts off my tirade. When I look back at him, I see him looking towards the door where Barry was standing, staring straight at me. All the blood drains from my face.

"I know that you care about me, each of you, in your own way." Barry says, leaning against the door frame. "And you all have your own point of view on this. But this decision is mine. I have to make it on my own."

Barry walks away without saying another word. After a second, Joe leaves as well, Harry walking out after him. Once they leave, I let out a sigh. "I bet that was a load off your chest." Henry says as I sit down on the stairs.

I shake my head, running a hand through my hair. "Strangely I don't feel any better." I say. When I look up at Henry, he is staring down at me with a look only a concerned father could muster up. "You know he's going to end up doing this…right?" Henry doesn't say anything, just nods his head. "I just…everything I said to Harry is true. I still have this small part of me though, that doesn't believe that I was worth Barry giving up his speed over." Henry looks down at me with a confused look. "I don't know how much Barry has told you about my upbringing but…I've never had a family, or anyone who cared about me. I've always had to prove myself first. But with Barry…and even Joe and Iris and Cisco and Caitlin…they've…" I shake my head, wiping away an errant tear. "I'm still having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that I have a family now. And I definitely never thought anyone like Barry would…love me in the way that he does."

Henry just smiles at me as he moves to sit down next to me. "Before Nora, Barry's mother, died, we'd sometimes talk at night about Barry's future," Henry says. "What he'd do in college, what his career would be, what type of girl he'd fall in love with. And you, Elizabeth," I turn my head towards him to find him smiling at me kindly. "Are far better than either of us could have dreamed of." A couple more tears fall as Henry wraps an arm around my shoulders.

* * *

 **A/N:** I rarely do author's notes, but I thought I would do one to address something that came up in a review. Elizabeth is _not a metahuman._ I have either said that in a chapter or I will. She definitely has something going on with her (which I will eventually spill) but she is not a metahuman. And as far as her and Barry being opposites, yes...they are very similar in some ways but in my experience the way scientist and historians think and process the world is very different from one another and that is where I am bringing in an oppisiteness for them. In my experience, scientist are _how_ thinkers and historians are _why_ thinkers.

Hope you all are enjoying the story! Review and follow/favorite! :)


	13. Well Done

"Hey," I hear behind me. I look over my shoulder to see Barry walking into the room. "Dad told me you'd be in here."

I was in the room where Wells was building the device to recreate the particle accelerator explosion. "Yeah, I just…I'm pretty useless in the Cortex. So…"

Barry just shakes his head at me. I knew he wanted to tell me I wasn't useless, but that was an argument that would never end. "So…we should probably talk about what you said earlier…"

I nod my head, leaning back against a stack of boxes. "I know you're going to do it Barry." I say. "As much as I don't want you to, as much as it scares the crap out of me…I know you."

"I don't know," Barry says, shaking his head. "I still…there are so many risks. I get why you said what you said. I would go…would do anything to keep you safe-"

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head. "I know that now. I just…I was telling your dad that I'm still getting used to having a family." I look at Barry, seeing him furrowing his brow at me. "Everyone in this building is my family, or the closest thing I've had to one. And it's all because of you, Barry. All because one day in Jitters you grabbed my coffee instead of yours. If something were to happen to you…I don't know if I could take it Barry. I want Zoom stopped…but not at the cost of losing you."

Barry nods his head as he steps towards me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling me to his chest. I wrap my arms around his waist, a couple of tears leaking out and soaking his sweater. "You won't lose me Elizabeth," he says into the top of my head. "I'm right here."

* * *

"That's Caitlin," we hear Joe say as we walk into the Cortex.

"What about Caitlin?" Barry and I both ask as we walk towards the computer desk.

"She sent us a message," Joe says. "Rupture is gonna attack Jitters tonight. We gotta move, Barry."

Henry looks back at Barry. "What are you gonna do, slugger?"

Joe and Harry also turn back to look at him, expectant looks on their faces. It was decision time for Barry. His eyebrows scrunch together in an almost pained expression. "Having the Flash might be the best way to stop Zoom and all the metas he's sending over." A pleased look crosses Harry's face. "But look, I…until we know for sure that setting off the accelerator will work, it's too risky, not just for me, for the entire city." Harry was back too looking pissed off. "There are countless others that would be affected if the explosion is not contained."

"Yes, but, Allen—" Harry tries to argue Barry out of waiting.

"Stop, Wells." Barry says, putting an end to the conversation. "Look, I'm sorry. I've made up my mind. I'm sorry. We're gonna have to figure out how to do this without the Flash."

Harry looks away from Barry as Joe and Henry both nod their heads in agreement. Barry looks down at me and I nod my head also. I could live with that I guess, waiting until we knew for sure if the accelerator was safe. As Harry and Barry start talking over different strategies for how to stop Rupture at Jitters, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and see it's one of the under curators from work. "You've got to be kidding me," I murmur, typing back a quick reply to her. Barry hears me and asks what's wrong. "A meta broke into the archives and stole some artifacts. I've got to go in, assess what's been taken, start the paperwork on it." When I look back up with Barry, he's giving me a look telling me I was leaving S.T.A.R. Labs when Hell froze over. "Barry…I have to…it's my job."

"Right now is not the best time-"

"I can't help it, Barry." I say, my voice raising louder than I meant for it to. It garners the attention of Joe and Henry, Harry dutifully ignores me. "What am I supposed to tell them? 'Sorry, my boyfriend lost his super speed so he doesn't want to let me out of his sight until he gets it back in case Zoom wants to kidnap me again?'"

"How long will you be gone?" Henry asks before Barry can say anything.

I let out a sigh, running my hand through my hair. "I'm not sure. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours. They were specific in what they took so…it shouldn't be too much paperwork."

"Go," Henry says. Barry starts to protest until Henry places a hand on Barry's shoulder. "You're right; it's your job, you need to take care of it. Straight there and back though."

I nod my head, silently thanking him. Barry doesn't say anything to me as I go up on my toes and place a kiss on his cheek before walking out of the Cortex.

* * *

 _-Barry's POV-_

Once I can't hear Elizabeth's footsteps anymore I turn to face my dad. "Why did you tell her to go? She could-"

"Barry," he holds a hand up to stop me. "Look, Elizabeth will be fine. But she needed to go. All of this-" He holds his hands out, motioning around the room. "She was about crack. She needed to get away. She needed some normalcy."

I nod my head. He was right. I could see it in her eyes. Elizabeth was a strong, strong woman; but there was only so much she could take. I pull out my phone and send her a text. _Please be careful. Call right away if anything or anyone shows up. I love you._

Half a minute later she responds. _I will. Always. I love you too Barry._

* * *

 _-Elizabeth's POV-_

A couple hours later when I get back to S.T.A.R. Labs, everyone is walking out of the Cortex. Cisco sees me first, who nudges Barry in the side, pointing at me. When Barry, in his Flash suit, turns to face me, I can tell by the look on his face what was going on. I had seen the news, seen the slain cops, it didn't take a genius to figure out Barry had decided to go into the particle accelerator. "Elizabeth…I have to…" Barry says as I walk up to him, the rest of the group continuing down the hall.

"I know," I say, nodding my head. "I actually had a feeling you were, after seeing the news, so I left the museum early. But Barry…" I reach up, placing a hand on the side of his face. As I stare deep into his eyes, the tears I was fighting back start to well up. "Are you sure?"

Barry nods his head, covering my hand with one of his own. "I have to."

"Okay," I say, my voice sounding raspy. I go up on my toes and wrap my other hand around his neck, pulling his lips down to mine. He responds by kissing me back, hard, and wrapping an arm around my waist and lifting me in the air slightly.

After too short of a time, he pulls back, resting his forehead on mine. "Come on." He takes one of my hands in his, intertwining our fingers. When we enter the pipeline, everyone was waiting on us, Cisco and Harry working on the contraption.

"So, how does this work?" Iris asks. Barry and I join her right behind Harry, looking at the contraption.

"It's an abbreviated version of the accelerator evil Wells built," Cisco explains. "Except Harry is isolating the antimatter and dark energy to direct it to Barry instead of the entire city."

"Good." Joe says. I glance up at him, seeing him staring dumbfoundedly at the machine. "Last thing we need is more meta-humans running around Central City."

"So Barry just gets in, you turn it on and that's it?" I ask as Barry starts to walk around the machine, eyeing it carefully. I wrap my arms around my waist, feeling sick to my stomach suddenly.

"Yeah." Harry snaps at me. When he turns around to look at me though, I think he feels a small amount of concern for me because his face softens slightly. "No. Not exactly. In addition to recreating what happened with the particle accelerator explosion," Harry walks past us and up to the observation deck. "We also have to recreate what happened to Barry."

"Getting struck by lightning," Barry says.

"That's right," Harry says.

"Wait," Iris says, looking from Barry to Harry. "So how are you going to do that? It's not even raining outside."

"Well, Ramon, you have the wand?" Harry says to Cisco.

"The one I made for Mark Mardon?" Cisco asks, confusion in his voice.

Harry stare back at him deadpan. "No, the one you built for the Harry Potter convention. Yes, of course the one you built for Mardon."

Despite myself, I smile a little as I turn back to look at Cisco. "How do you know about the Harry Potter convention?" Cisco says, narrowing his eyes at Wells.

"Get the wand." Harry says. "Get on the roof."

"Why the roof?" Joe asks.

"Because we're gonna need a lightning rod," Harry says, looking, straight at Cisco. "And that Ramon, is gonna be you."

Cisco murmurs something unintelligible as he walks past us and out of the room. A little bit later, we hear him over the intercom system in the room. "All right, I'm on the roof." I look at Barry, who has a blank look on his face. He was hiding his emotions. "Wow, I've never actually been up here before. I think I can see my apartment from here."

"Now head straight to the satellite, Ramon." Wells says, trying to focus Cisco. "When I give you the signal, you're going to create a lightning storm above you."

"So I'm just supposed to stand here in the middle of a lightning storm?" Cisco says. Even though I couldn't see him, I could tell by the tone of his voice he wasn't thrilled with the idea.

"Really, Ramon, chances of being struck are slim, indeed." Wells says, focusing on whatever it was he was doing on the monitor.

"Yeah," Cisco says. "Not when you're the one causing it!"

Wells looked exasperated. "All we need is one lightning bolt to strike the satellite. The satellite's circuitry's connected to the breach room. Barry's in the breach room. Just do it."

"Yeah, I'm doing it," Cisco says back.

Harry looks down at Barry and nods at him. Barry moves past me and starts to climb into the machine. It was taking everything in me to stay upright. Joe, Iris, Henry, and I gather around the machine as Barry places his hands and feet into the right positions, clamps holding him in an X-shape. "You're gonna feel these clamps, but they're necessary." Harry says from the deck.

Once Barry was settled, he nods at Wells. "You good?" Joe asks him.

Barry looks down at Joe, nodding his head. "Yeah. Are you?" Joe doesn't say anything, just stares at Barry. None of us were fine. "I'll be fine, Joe."

Joe wraps an arm around Iris's shoulders and they both walk away to go stand up by Harry. Barry looks down at me next and I quickly wipe away whatever tears were falling. "I love you Barry Allen. No matter what happens."

"I love you too Elizabeth." Barry says, emotion starting to fill his voice.

As I walk up to stand next to Iris and Joe, Henry steps up to where I had been. "Son, you don't have to do this if you don't want to." I stop on the staircase to look back at them.

Barry shakes his head as he looks down at his father. "Being the Flash, that's the best version of me." Barry says. "If I don't have my speed, I'll never be that person anymore. I have to do this."

I clamp a hand down over my mouth as I see a tear track forming under Barry's eye. Henry nods his head as he turns and starts back towards the rest of us. He places a hand between my shoulder blades, guiding me the rest of the way up the stairs. Iris, Joe, and I stand directly in front of Barry as Henry moves to monitor Barry's vitals and Harry stays where he had been. "You ready, Allen?" Wells asks him. Barry nods his head once. "All right then. Here we go." Harry presses a button on the console in front of him, closing the large doors that were supposed to act as a barrier between the explosion and us. Harry presses a few more buttons and within a few seconds the ground under us starts to shake. "The particles are becoming unstable. Ramon get ready." Harry tells Cisco. "I'm gonna release the chemicals into his system."

A second later, I watch Barry as he jerks forward, his face contorting into pain as large vials of chemicals start emptying into him. Iris and I grab onto each other. "Why are you doing this?" Iris yells over top the machine.

"The night Barry was struck by lightning, he was doing fingerprint analysis." Harry explains. "Those chemicals got in his system then, and they are going in now."

"So you're injecting them into him?" I yell. Barry was still jerking around, the clamps holding him in place but it was obvious he was in pain.

"We have to recreate everything that happened to Barry that night." Harry says.

"I'm okay, Elizabeth," Barry yells out to me.

"Hold on Barry," Joe says, trying to encourage him.

Barry starts jerking around more violently, letting out groans of pain. "He's going hydrostatic," Henry says.

"Almost there, almost there," Harry says. Henry yells back at Wells as they both keep watching their monitors. "Ready, Ramon?"

"Ready," Cisco says back.

"Now!" Harry says, a second later.

"Great Scott, it's working!" Cisco's voice says overhead.

Electricity enters the breach room, visible strikes of it covering Barry. A second later, what looks like a wave of fire fills the room, washing over Barry. Even from the deck, I can see it eating away at Barry, his skin burning and flaking off. Iris and I both scream for Barry right before the explosion escapes the breach room. The energy washes over all of us, knocking us to the ground. It felt like every cell in my body was on fire. The pain was unimaginable but it was brief. Once it's gone and everything seems to quiet, I try to start to stand up, someone, Iris, helping me up. As the smoke clears away and we both look towards Barry…but he wasn't there. "It worked." Cisco says as he comes running in the room. "Is everyone okay?"

" _No, no, no,"_ I start to mumble under my breath as I walk down the stairs towards the machine Barry was supposed to be in but wasn't. Where was Barry? Once the large doors open and I hear Iris let out a sob I drop to my knees, grabbing onto the railing. I could hear Henry and Iris crying behind me, but I couldn't register it. Cisco stops next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

As if the moment couldn't get any worse, Zoom comes running into the room, stopping right next to the machine. He reaches down and picks up the charred remains of the chest piece of Barry's suit. "You thought you could give The Flash his speed back?" he says, holding the suit piece up for us to see. "Well done. You killed him instead."

He runs out of the room, leaving the suit piece behind. Henry and Iris behind me start sobbing again. When I see Cisco walk over and pick up the piece of Barry suit, a scream I had been holding back escapes along with a red force of energy I barely register before passing out.


	14. Find Your Peace

_-Cisco's POV-_

I stand next to Iris, watching Henry as he checks out both Jesse and Elizabeth. Both of them were alive, but comatose. "Thank God you're here," I say to him as he moves form patient to patient. "Caitlin's usually the one doing this, but…"

"Heart rate is normal," Henry says, checking Jesse's pulse in her wrist. "Breathing and reflexes are fine. She should be waking up. She's just not."

"It was the same with Barry," Iris says. Henry looks up at her for more explanation. "Um…After the first accident, he was in a coma that no one could explain."

"What did you do with him?" Henry asks, looking to me.

"So they brought him here. Well, Wells brought him here." I explain.

"The other Wells," Iris adds.

"Right, the Wells that was actually Thawne," I say.

"Eobard, not Eddie."

"Right," I say, nodding my head.

"It's complicated," Iris says. "Anyway, we took care of Barry while Wells, Thawne treated him."

"Are there any records of that treatment?" Henry asks. "We might find clues how to help Jesse."

"Uh, yeah, they'd be downstairs in the storage room," I say. "In the morgue."

"Ew!" Iris says, looking at me, her nose scrunching. "You guys have a morgue?"

"Well, it's not like a 'morgue' morgue. It's not like…" I say, trying to explain. "It's like a poor man's morgue, really. Morgue-ish."

"Would one of you go get them. Please?" Henry asks, stopping my rambling. He turns towards Elizabeth, his back towards us.

I nod my head, but Iris stops me before we leave. "What about Elizabeth? What was that…red ring that came out of her?"

Henry turns back to look at us. "Her heart rate, breathing, everything is low." He says, his voice strained. "She's just barely hanging on. I've pushed everything we got on her…but I think the particle accelerator affected her as well."

"Is she going to be okay?" I ask, my voice quieter. I really couldn't take losing another friend today.

Henry shake his head, running a hand over his face. "I really don't know."

* * *

 _-Barry's POV-_

"Sorry, I got lost." I say once Tony Woodward hits the ground, dead again.

"It's okay," Iris says, placing a hand on my back. "We found you."

I smile at her as I stand up and then something dawns on me. Elizabeth wasn't in the breach room when I came back. "Where's Elizabeth?" I ask, looking from Iris to Cisco and Harry.

"Barry…" Iris says, placing a hand on my arm. I look down at her, panic starting to creep into me. "Something happened to Elizabeth. She's in the med bay now. Your dad is-"

I don't wait to listen to the rest of her explanation before heading out of the room. When I get to the Cortex, I see Jesse laying in a hospital bed. Past her, my dad was standing over Elizabeth, checking vitals. "What's wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure, son," my dad says. "She is just barely hanging on, but I cannot figure out why." He lets out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "When you…when we realized you were gone, she…this energy ring radiated from her right before she lost consciousness. Cisco told me about the other problems she's had in the past but…this is beyond anything I can figure out. We need Caitlin."

I let out a sigh, moving around to the other side of the bed. I reach down, and take Elizabeth's hand into mine. _Please come back to me…_

* * *

 _-Elizabeth's POV-_

When I wake up, it's with a start. I jolt up out of bed, looking around to see I was in the med-bay. The cortex was deserted. I felt fine, like I had just woken up from a refreshing nap. I move towards the edge of the bed, pulling out the i.v. as I set my feet on the ground. I had no clue how long I'd been out for. A little bit dazed and disoriented, I walk out of the cortex, my mind seeming to tell me to go to the breach room. I walk around the facility, not remembering how to get there. After what seems like ages, I run into the last person I had expected to. "Wally?" he looked angry.

"Elizabeth?" Now he looked at me like he was surprised to see me. "You're okay? We thought-"

"I'm fine," I say, cutting him off. "What's going on? Why are you-"

"Come on," he grabs me by the hand, pulling me down the hall behind him. "We got to get Barry."

"Barry?" I was really confused now. "What are you-"

"There's not really time to explain," he says as we near the intake. "You've missed a lot while you've been out. Long story short though, everyone locked Barry in the pipeline."

" _What?"_

Wally doesn't say anything as he messes with the console, opening the solid door. When it lifts, I see Barry locked in a cell. At first he looks at me and Wally confused, but then when he sees me his face lights up. When the cell door opens, Barry is out of it in a blink of an eye grabbing me up in a crushing hug. I reciprocate and wrap my arms around his neck as he buries his face in the crook of my neck. "I hate to cut this reunion short," Wally says. Barry pulls back to look at him, setting me back down on my feet but keeping his arms around me. "Everyone's gonna freak when they find out I did this, but I don't care." Barry unwraps one of his arms from me as Wally steps closer to Barry. "We need your help, Barry."

"What's going on?" Barry says, a grave look on his face.

"Zoom took Joe." Wally says. Without even blinking, Barry grabs Wally and runs us both to the Cortex with him.

"Wally!" Iris chastises Wally upon seeing us.

"Well, I wasn't just gonna stand here and let this happen." Wally says.

"Elizabeth!" Caitlin says, running over to me. "You're okay!"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I murmur at her. I was still the most uninformed person in the room. I didn't even know how long I had been out for.

"You let him take Joe?" Barry says, looking accusingly at Harry. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Allen," Harry says. "There was nothing we could do." When Barry walks over to Wells, Caitlin pulls me over to a stool, looking me over.

"You could've let me race him!" Barry yells at Wells. _Race him?_ I was so lost.

"Allen, you're not racing Zoom." Wells says in a tone of finality.

"What are you gonna do?" Barry says. "You gonna tranq me again?"

"Don't' tempt me," Harry says.

"Look," Barry says, turning to look at everyone else. "I know you guys made a pact to keep Zoom on Earth-2, but you did that without me and Wally." _And me,_ I murmur under my breath. "All right, you don't get to do that!"

"Barry, look at yourself right now." Cisco says. "You're not okay."

"Cisco, my dad was just killed in front of me!" Barry yells at Cisco. "Do you have any idea how that feels?"

" _What?"_ It was my turn to yell this time. Everyone turns to look at me. Caitlin wraps an arm around my shoulder as silent tears start to fall. _What the hell did I miss?_

"Watching someone you love die?" Caitlin snaps back at Barry. "Yes, I do."

"Cait…"

"Look," Caitlin says, following Barry as he walks across the room. "I know how cold and angry and distant that can make you. But when that happened to me, you were the one who kept me in check. You told me to stop and take a breath. And that's all we're telling you to do now."

"I'm telling you," Barry says, shaking his head. "I'm good."

"Really, you're good?" Wells says. "Because it seems to me you wanna do more than stop Zoom. It seems to me you want revenge. If that's why you're doing this, Allen, you will lose."

"Can you blame him?" I say, standing up from the stool. Everyone turns to look at me. Caitlin tries to get me to sit back down, but I shake her off. "Look, I have no clue what I've missed or how long I've been out, but we seem to be running out of time. Henry is…" I swallow, shaking my head not able to say the word. "Zoom has Joe. If he is treating him anything like he treated me or Jesse…we don't have much time." I look around at everyone, who avert their gazes, until I finally land on Barry. "Barry is the only one who can stop him and Zoom needs to be stopped. Now."

Barry nods his head once at me, grateful for my words. "I have to beat him, and I'm going to," Barry says, looking around at everyone. "Whether I have your help or not. So which one is it?"

"Elizabeth," Caitlin says. I turn around to look at her as everyone else starts to move around the lab. "I need to check you out. Since you know…you just came out of a week long coma…"

"Right," I say, following her in to the med-bay. At least I knew how long I'd been out for now. As I walk by Barry though, I stop beside him, reaching a hand up to rest on his shoulder. "Hey," I say, just for him to hear. He looks down at me with sad eyes. "I'm sorry about your dad." Barry just nods his head, leaning down to kiss me on the forehead. After a moment, I break away from him and follow Cait into the med-bay.

* * *

"So, I was out for a week," I say to Caitlin, trying to recap everything I had missed. "Barry didn't actually die, he just disappeared into the speed force. There was a meta-pocolypse. Zoom killed Henry…did I miss anything?"

"Don't forget about the weird red energy you let off," Cisco says as him, Barry, and Harry walk back into the Cortex. "What was up with that by the way?"

"All of her tests came back normal…" Caitlin says.

"Like always…" I say, pushing myself off the hospital bed. "My test will always be normal because the universe hates me. Enough about me though," I say, waving a hand in the air. I walk out into the cortex where Barry was standing in the middle, smirking at me. "I assume you got ahold of Zoom?"

"Yeah," he says, the smirk disappearing. "I did. We race tonight."

* * *

"I tell you, Jay might be crazy pants, but he can pick a venue," Cisco says as him, Barry, Iris, Jesse, Harry, Caitlin, Wally, and I walk through an abandoned factory yard. When we turn a corner, we come face to face with a large, lit up circle. They had tried to explain to me what the magnetar did…but the science went right over my head.

We all turn around as we hear the sound of Jay running up behind us. Turning around, we see him standing there, his mask off, with Joe. "I see you brought the whole crew," he yells over to us. "Can't say I blame you…"

"Dad!" Wally says, starting towards Joe.

"Wally! Iris grabs his arms, stopping him.

"It's gonna be one hell of a show." Jay says.

"Let him go," Barry says to Jay.

"After we race," Jay responds.

"Cut the crap." Harry says, aiming his gun at Jay. "We know you plan to power up the Magnetar so you can destroy the mulit-verse."

"Bravo," Jay says dryly. "You figured it out. Almost. I don't want to destroy all of it. This Earth is at the center of the multi-verse. It's the access point to every other Earth in existence. One trans-dimensional shockwave and…Poof."

"Leaving just our Earth," Cisco says. "How generous of you."

Jay tilts his head as he looks at Cisco. "Need to have some place to hang my cowl. You might want to say your goodbyes."

He looks at us for a moment longer before running away with Joe. Barry turns back towards all of us, talking to Iris and Wally. "Don't worry, I'm gonna save your dad."

"No," Wally says. "You're gonna save our dad."

Barry nods his head once at Wally before turning to talk to the rest of us. "Get back to S.T.A.R. Labs, it's safer."

"We're not going anywhere," I say.

Cisco steps up beside me. "You got eyes and ears right here."

"Either he goes, or we all die together." Caitlin says.

Barry looks at each of us before looking to Wells. "We believe in you."

"Wait," I grab Barry's arm as he starts to head towards the Magnetar. Quickly, I grab him by the back of the neck and pull him down to me, pressing my lips to his quickly. Before he can even reciprocate, I let him go. After half a second he recovers and gives me a smirk. "Kick his ass, Barry."

Barry runs away, joining Zoom under the Magnetar. After they talk for a minute, they both run up into the Magnetar, blue and yellow lightning chasing each other. Not long after they start, the Magnetar starts to come to life. "They're powering up the Magnetar," Harry says.

"Come on Barry, catch up," Cisco says as a white beam starts to climb towards the sky out of the machine.

Once the beam seems to reach the clouds a pink light emanates from it, creating a hole in the sky. A second later, a second yellow streak appears running beside Barry. "Which one is Barry?"

"Both of them," Wells answers. "He made a-"

"Time Remnant!" him and Cisco say at the same time. We all watch as one of the streaks runs from the circle. A second later, Zoom knocks the other one out of the Magnetar. As Zoom and one of the Barry's start fighting, the other Barry starts running around the white beam shooting into the air. Suddenly, Joe runs up from the side, joining us. I had no clue where to look. "What's the Time Remnant doing?" I ask.

"He's creating his own pulse," Cisco says.

"Why would he do that?" Jesse asks.

"Because if that's out of phase, it'll counteract that one." Harry answers.

"Wait, his body can't handle that!" Caitlin says.

"Then what's gonna happen?" Jesse asks.

We all knew the answer; even I did. "He'll die." Harry says. The faster the Time Remnant runs, the white beam starts to turn yellow. Suddenly, the Time Remnant starts to fade away as the Magnetar shuts down, screaming as he does. Someone grabs onto me, probably Wally, to hold me back. In the distance, we hear Jay yell as he continues to fight Barry. Then, the two of them start running all over the factory around us. They continue fighting at super speed, until Barry seems to deliver a crushing blow to Jay, knocking him to the ground not too far from us. They exchange words, unknown to us, until suddenly the sky opens up above them, time wraiths emerging. Barry backs away from him as the time wraiths surround Jay. They fly around him as he screams, his lightening turning from blue to red, then they pick him up and fly away with him, the hole in the sky closing as they disappear into it. It was over. Zoom was gone.

* * *

"Okay, so you ran back in time and made a copy of yourself?" Wally says, pacing around the Cortex. Everyone was back at S.T.A.R. Labs, safe and sound. I was nursing a nice headache that had appeared right after the time wraiths disappeared; a cold compress seemed to do the trick.

"Well, uh…Basically, yeah." Barry says.

"It's called a Time Remnant," Jesse tells Wally.

Barry lets out a sigh as Wally finally stops pacing. "It's not something that I can do every day-"

"Please don't" I say from under the cold pack.

"But, I needed a way to draw the Time Wraiths out of the Speed Force," Barry continues on. "Hoping they'd be more upset at what Zoom had done than they'd be at me."

"Is that what I look like when they start talking about science," Joe says, pointing at the confused look on Wally's face.

"Pretty much," Iris says.

"Don't worry Wally," Joe says. "It'll get easier to understand."

"Not if you're a history person," I say, reclining the chair back that I was in to let the cold pack balance over my eyes. "It never gets easier…"

"Well, how does that even work?" Wally asks, still intrigued.

"Same way Zoom did it," Barry says. "I ran back in time moments before I left. It's the only place I can be in two places at once."

"Okay, so the Time Remnant is still you?" Wally says. Barry says yes.

"But he died…" Caitlin says.

"I…He was willing to sacrifice himself for all of us." Barry says.

"That's how much he loved us," Iris says.

"You know what, we'll uh, we'll just forget about it," Wally says with a laugh, finally giving up on the topic. "Barry, I'm glad you're okay." I hear him and Barry both let out a chuckle before he asks another question. "And what is going on with Elizabeth?"

I answer before anyone else can. "Elizabeth gets massive migraines anytime someone messes with the timeline," I say, sitting up straight and removing the cold back. Both Cait and Barry were giving me sympathetic looks. "Elizabeth can also affect breaches, speak in an unknown language, and can apparently shoot red beams when she gets really mad." I stand up and walk towards Barry, coming to a stop beside him and turning towards Wally. "No one knows why this happens to Elizabeth. And as glad as she is that her boyfriend defeated the evil speedster…" I turn my head to look up at Barry now. "A little warning about messing with the timeline would have been nice."

Barry murmurs another apology as he leans down and kisses my forehead. Behind us all, in Cisco's lab, Cisco and Harry were working to free the man in the iron mask that had been rescued from Jay's lair. We all freeze, I feel Barry tense behind me, as we hear an eerily familiar voice coming from the lab. "I don't know what's more annoying, being in that thing or listening to you two arguing about it."

We all turn to look at the man as he walks down into Cortex. I cover my mouth with my hand to hide the audible gasp. The man was the spitting image of Henry Allen, albeit a scruffier, dirtier version…but it was him. "I…um…" Barry says, looking at him dumbfounded. "You're…"

"I'm Jay Garrick," the man answers. "The real Jay Garrick." I look up at Barry as a look of panic washes over him. Jay picks up on it quickly. "What?"

"I'm sorry…I…" Barry says, starting towards the door to the Cortex. "I'm sorry…" Barry walks quickly out of the Cortex. I wait a second and then follow after him.

When I find him, he's squatted down in the hallway, crying quietly and wiping away at the tears. "Barry…"

"He looks just like him." Barry says, motioning a hand towards the direction of the cortex. "He looks just like my dad, Elizabeth." He pushes himself back up to a standing position. "He told me. My dad told me- He told me this, he said his, his mom's maiden name was Garrick!" More tears start to fall as he shakes his head. "I just never thought that meant-"

"Hey, Barr- Barry," I place both my arms on his, trying to get him to calm down. "He doesn't know that." I swallow back the lump in my own throat as Barry covers his mouth with both his hands to quiet his own sobs. I hated seeing Barry like this. "He doesn't know that he's your dad's doppelganger, okay?" He drops one of his hands, taking the other one and grabbing on to mine. "Do you want me to tell them you had to leave?"

He thinks it over for a second before shaking his head. "No…no…"

"Are you sure?" I ask, ducking my head down to look him in the eye better. "You can go if you need-"

"I'm sure," Barry says, nodding his head. "I just need a minute." I nod my head as I drop my hands from Barry's arms. "I'll be alright, I just…" He ducks his head down, letting it rest on my shoulder as he wraps his arms around my waist. I fall back to lean against the wall as my arms come around his shoulders, rubbing soothing circles onto his back. It was a semi-awkward position, but it was what Barry needed, so I wasn't moving.

* * *

Later that night, Joe, Iris, Wally, and Barry had Cisco, Caitlin, and I over to dinner. Harry, Jesse, and Jay had gone back to their Earths. Shockingly Harry apologized to me for the way he had acted towards me. All of us were sitting in the living room of the West house, eating sandwiches and watching the news. Everything seemed relatively normal. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Barry walk outside. Joe and I both share a look before I get up and follow him out. When I get outside, Barry is sitting on the porch steps, the sad look on his face from earlier still there. "I can't stop thinking about my dad's doppelganger," he says as I sit down next to him. "Seeing him, knowing that he's out there, that should've made it easier. Doesn't. Just makes me miss him more."

I shake my head as one of our hands finds the other and our fingers intertwine. "I can't even imagine how hard that must've been."

"We just won." Barry says. "We just beat Zoom. Why does it feel like I just lost?"

"Because you've lost a lot in your life Barry," I tell him. "More than most." Barry nods his head, looking down at our hands. "But I'm here," he looks back up at me, his green eyes connecting with mine. "And hopefully you see that as life giving you something."

A half smile graces his face for a split second. "I…I love hearing you say that and I do, I see it that way. But…" Barry shakes his head, looking away from me. "I feel so hollowed out inside right now. I feel more broken than I've ever felt in my life. If I'm ever going to be worth anything to you again…the man you deserve…I need to fix what's wrong with me. I need to find some…some peace."

I reach up with my free hand and wipe away the single tear that had escaped. "Barry, listen to me," he turns his head back to look at me. "I have waited my whole life for someone like you. And you have given me more than I could've ever asked for. I love you…I love you for that. So I will wait for you. You go, do whatever it is you need to do to find your peace. I will be right here, waiting for you."

"Okay," Barry says, nodding his head.

"I love you, Barry," I say.

Barry leans forwards pressing his lips to mine. The kiss was slow and sweet, but full of emotion. "I love you, Elizabeth," he says as he pulls away. "I always will."

I give him one more quick peck on the cheek before standing up and walking back inside. When I go back inside, Joe gives me a question look. Before I can say anything though, everything goes black.

* * *

When I open my eyes, I'm in my hotel room…in London. I knew what was going on. Regardless, I run over to the window of my room to confirm my suspicions. Throwing back the curtains, I'm greeted by the London skyline. A glint out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. I look to my left, seeing the large ruby engagement ring nestled on my ring finger. I knew where it came from, I knew who gave it to me. I immediately search for my phone. When I find it, I dial the one person's number who can answer my million questions. "Barry, what the hell is going on?"


	15. The Dress

When I pass the security check point at the airport in Central City, I immediately spot Barry. A wave of relief washes over me when I see him. He starts towards me, meeting me halfway, and picks me up in a crushing hug. "Are you okay?" He asks as he sits me back down on the ground.

I nod my head as pull back from him. "The migraine is already gone." I tell him. "Just some residual effects, trying to keep the timelines straight in my mind..."

"What do you remember?" Barry asks as we start to make our way to the exit. "Or what's different?"

"Not much for me, really," I say. I dig into my pocket and pull out the ring, slipping it onto _that_ finger. "Except this."

I hold my hand up in Barry's face, the large ruby twinkling in his face. "Oh boy," Barry says, his eyes going wide. He grabs the hand, turning it to look at it better. "Who are you-"

"Who do you think?" I say, pulling the hand back. Barry looks at me; he knows who but doesn't want to say it. "Looks like I'm the future Mrs. Allen in this timeline."

"Elizabeth, I-"

"It's okay, Barry," I say. "We'll...we'll figure it out later. It's just…" I shake my head, running a hand through my hair. "Yesterday we…and then today…You brought your parents back?"

Barry lets out a sigh. "I had to, Elizabeth. I just-" He shakes his head, looking away for a moment. "I needed this. I-"

"Hey, hey, it's okay," I grab him around the shoulders and pull him into a hug. "We'll figure it out. It'll be okay." I hold Barry for a moment longer until we both pull back. "As odd as this is going to sound, we better get to your parents'…they are expecting us for dinner."

Barry chuckles once, grabbing the handle of my suitcase from me. "You're right, that does sound odd," he says. "But I like it…I gotta admit." Barry smirks at me before grabbing me up and running us to his parents' house. "Wait, how did you know that they were expecting us?"

I shrug a shoulder. This whole multiple timelines in my head thing was confusing. "Your mom has been planning this dinner," I tell him. We were on the street outside the house. Barry had taken me by it once in the previous timeline and it looked exactly the same now, only with more life in it. "It actually has to do with this whole engagement thing." I say, holding my left hand up and wiggling my fingers in the air. Barry looks down at me and gives me a confused look. I forgot he has no clue what happened before yesterday. "I've been in London for three weeks, doing a lecture series. You proposed to me at the airport, right before I left."

"Oh…" Barry says as we walk up the steps to the porch.

"Yeah," I say in agreement. "So, your mom has been planning this dinner for a while to celebrate."

"Look," Barry says, pulling me to a stop in front of the front door. He grabs both of my hands in his, briefly looking down at the engagement ring. "If you don't feel comfortable with this, we can-"

"No, Barry," I shake my head. "Gosh, this is so confusing. I…I want to be engaged to you. I do, I really do. I know that it seems really sudden when you compare it to the previous timeline, but here, it makes sense." It suddenly dawns on me why he would offer to call off the engagement. "Oh! Oh, gosh, no, Barry, I'm so sorry, I didn't even realize—If you don't want this then, yeah, can call it off. I mean-"

Barry starts shaking his head, almost franticly. "What? Oh, no, I'm mean—I just thought you'd be-"

"So you do want to do this?" I say…I was confused now. "You want to stay engaged? You know we could just-"

Barry cuts me off by crushing his lips to mine. My hands wind their way around his neck of their own accord. After a minute, he pulls back, smiling widely down at me. "Yeah, I want to marry you."

I smile back at him before reconnecting our lips. We're broken apart by the door opening. When I pull back from Barry, I try to keep my jaw from visibly hitting the floor from seeing Nora and Henry. I, of course, had never met Nora in the previous timeline, but it was especially nerve-rattling to see Henry now that I remembered the previous timeline as well. The brief time that we had known each other we had become close. "There they are!" Nora squeals, stepping over the threshold and grabbing both me and Barry into a hug. When she finally pulls back, she immediately reaches for my left hand. "Let me see this ring!" she gazes at it, gently turning my hand back and forth to make the ruby and tiny diamonds surrounding it sparkle in the porch light. "Oh it's just beautiful!" she gushes. "And can you believe he picked it out all by himself-"

"How about we let the kids come inside Nora?" Henry says, smiling lovingly at his wife. "Elizabeth just got off a long flight and it's chilly out tonight…"

"You're right, you're right," she says. Nora steps back, waving for us to follow her inside. "Come on inside…the food is almost ready. We want to hear all about your trip…you'll have to tell me what you thought of those restaurants I told you to go to…and of course I want to hear your version of the proposal…" Nora continues to prattle on as she walks into the kitchen. I shake my head in amusement. I knew Nora was like this, but at the same time this was all new to me.

"It's good to see you Elizabeth," Henry says, chuckling lightly once Nora was gone. He pulls me into a hug for a brief second. "How was your flight?"

"It was good," I tell him. "I got a migraine during it," I look pointedly at Barry who smiles at me sheepishly. "But it was gone by the time I landed."

"That's good," Henry says. "Let me know if you get any more of those," he says, looking at me concerned now. "Chronic migraines aren't good for you."

"I will," I tell him.

I feel Barry place a hand on the small of my back. "Come on you two," Henry says, jerking his head towards the direction of the kitchen. "Let's go see if Mom needs any help in the kitchen." Henry heads for the kitchen, leaving me and Barry in the front hallway. Barry looks down at me, smiling, before pecking a kiss on my forehead. I smile back at him, lacing my hand through his. I was definitely concerned about the ramifications him changing the timeline would have. But for right now…I was happy.

* * *

"Wow," Barry says once we arrive back at my apartment. It was a different one than I had in the previous timeline; this one was much nicer. "Sweet space."

"Yeah," I say, taking off my coat and scarf. "I'm a much better negotiator in this timeline and I'm also a professor at the college along with the archivist job...so, much nicer apartment in this timeline."

"You're teaching here?" Barry asks, looking around. "That's awesome."

I nod my head. "I like it." I say. "So…you still have your super speed here…but you're not the Flash…" Barry turns back to look at me from the picture on the mantel he had been looking at. "There's no Cisco…or Caitlin…so no Flash." His face falls a little bit at the news. "Are you okay with that?"

He considers it for a moment before nodding his head. "Yeah…I'm good with it…I think."

"There is _a_ Flash," I say, walking over to the kitchen. I grab the newspaper sitting there and hand it to Barry. It was old, from before I had gone to London, but it had the story on it I wanted to show him. "Only now they call him-"

"Kid Flash?" Barry says, quickly scanning the article. "Well, I see Iris is still a journalist here…."

"Yeah, only we aren't friends with her." Barry looks back up at me quickly. "What did you expect? You saved your mom, so you didn't go live with the Wests."

"But even before that me and Iris were-"

I nod my head. "You were best friends when you were little." I shrug my shoulder. "I don't know. You mentioned her once to me, saying that you two were best friends when you were young but as you grew up you grew apart. You haven't even spoken to her since you graduated high school."

"Oh man…" Barry says, dropping the newspaper on the counter behind me. He drops his elbows to the counter as well, leaning his forehead down into his hands. "This changed a lot more than I thought it would…"

I let out a sigh as I place a hand on his back and start rubbing circles on it. "We'll figure it out," I say, trying to sound reassuring but not entirely sure if what I was proposing was possible. "Maybe you and Iris can slowly become friends again. She's still the same…well, expect…"

"Except what?" Barry's head snaps up. "What's different?"

I wasn't sure if I should even be telling him all of this, but I continue anyway. "Her, Joe, and Wally…well…" Barry stands up straight again as I start fidgeting with my ring. "Now, this is all second hand from what you- well you in this timeline has told me so I don't know the details but Joe apparently has a tiny bit of a drinking problem—"

" _What?"_

"Don't shoot the messenger," I say, holding my hands in the air. "It's just what you in this timeline told me. You briefly mentioned one time how you suspected it because he suddenly started acting different at work…" Barry's head drops into his hands again. "I feel like a broken record saying this but—"

"Yeah, I know," Barry says. "It'll be okay. We'll figure it out…" He shakes his head, leaning back against the counter. "This is all just very…"

I step close to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head against his chest. "I know…" I say as his arms come around my shoulders. Whatever else was different, this thankfully was still the same. Barry was my home and family, that was never going to change.

* * *

 _Three Months Later_

"You don't have to try anything on if you don't want to," Nora says as we enter the shop. "We're just looking around to get some ideas…"

I nod my head as I look around at the sea of white. Nora had finally convinced me to go look at wedding dresses with the promise I didn't have to try any on. Barry and I had been trying to hold off on any wedding planning. It wasn't that we had rethought the whole marriage idea, but that Barry was still adjusting to this new timeline, finally spending time with his parents. Unlike the previous timeline where Caitlin and Iris (and probably even Cisco) would have drug me to the boutiques, I didn't have any close girlfriends here; much like the previous timeline before I met Barry. I definitely didn't have any family, that hadn't changed, so Nora was my wedding dress shopping buddy. As I stand by the entrance, looking around at the sea of satin and tulle and dresses of all shapes and sizes, I actually start to feel a little excited. "It might not hurt to try on one or two…" I can practically hear Nora hold back a squeal of delight. I knew in the back of my mind that was what she was hoping would happen.

A nice sales girl helps me pick out a couple dresses and sets up a dressing room for me. The first two were duds. "You look beautiful in them," Nora says, holding the complimentary champagne the girl had brought her. "But they just aren't…you…" To appease my inner-Disney princess, I try on a huge, fluffy ballgown dress. I think a little champagne came out of Nora's nose when I stepped out of the dressing room.

When I'm out of it and trying my best to put it back on the hanger, the sales girl knocks on the dressing room door. "I know you said that last one was going to be the last dress you tried on…" she says. When I open the door wider I see her holding another dress bag. "But I just saw this one in the back and it was like it was screaming your name." I let out a sigh, saying I'd try it on…but it was most definitely the last one.

"Alright," I say as I walk out of the dressing room. "This is the last one…I got to admit it feels pretty-" I stop when I see Nora looking at me. Tears were in her eyes and she was covering her mouth with her hand. "What?" I ask, suddenly self-conscious. "Is it that bad?"

"No, honey, no," Nora says, shaking her head. She stands up and walks over to me. Gently she spins me around so that I'm looking at myself in the mirror. "I think you found _the_ dress."

My breath actually catches in my throat when I see myself. Yeah…I had found _the_ dress. It was floor length trumpet skirt, structured satin with a bateau neckline, and gem encrusted belt. It was simple yet elegant. It was perfect. "Oh my," I say, looking at myself. The dress fit me perfectly; the sales girl nearby commented how it didn't look like I would even need it altered. "This is…this is my dress…"


	16. Glitch In The Universe

As I sit two plates on the table for my and Barry's dinner, a blinding pain rips through my head. I drop to the ground, clutching at it. In a few seconds though, it's gone. Slowly, I crawl my way to a standing position. Once I'm standing, I go in the living room and grab my phone to call Barry; he doesn't answer though. Next, I call Nora. "No, sorry," she says. "I haven't talked to him since breakfast…" I could hear the concern in her voice.

"That's alright Nora," I say. "He's probably just at work…lost in a case. We all know that's happened to me a few times."

She chuckles lightly before letting out a sigh. "Elizabeth, honey," she says. "I know I've told you this a million times, but I'm so glad my son found you."

I smile into the phone. "I'm glad he did too, Nora."

"And," she says. "Since you are marrying my son, if you're comfortable with it, I think you could start calling me Mom."

I press my fingers to my lips to hold back a sob. "Thank you," I say, swallowing back the lump in my throat. The gesture was sweet, but I couldn't bring myself to say the word. It may have been a defense I was subconsciously putting up...there was no telling how long this timeline Barry created would last. Nora tells me that if she hears from Barry she will let me know. I thank her before we end the call. I'm about to try Barry again when I'm suddenly flying through the air…the unmistakable feeling of him running me somewhere. In a blink, I'm standing in what vaguely looks like the Cortex in S.T.A.R. Labs.

"Who the hell are you?" I hear Iris West say. I look to my right and see her standing there, not staring at me, but at Barry who was in his Flash suit. Across the table from me was Cisco…or well this timeline's Cisco, he looked vastly different here. On the other side of Iris was Wally. He was the only person I actually knew from this timeline.

Barry takes off his mask as he looks at Iris. "The man who's going to help you stop the Rival."

I look between them as Iris and Wally both turn to look at me next. "Dr. Cambridge?" Wally says when he sees me. "What are you doing here?"

"Wait, you know Wally here?" Barry says to me.

I shrug my shoulders. "He's in my Early British History class…teacher-student confidentiality," I say to Barry before turning to look at Wally. "It's good to see you Wally…even though I have no clue what we're doing here…"

"Wally is…" Barry starts to say until Iris stops him with a look. "You can trust her…she's my fiancée." I smile at Barry for a second before he continues. "Anyway, Wally is the Kid Flash."

" _What?"_ I say, turning back to face Wally. He just kind of smirks at me. "And yet you're still late to lecture almost every day?"

"That is—" Barry says, cutting off whatever Wally was going to say. "That is not the point. I need you all to sit down…I've got some explaining to do…"

* * *

Barry tells Iris, Wally, and Cisco about Flashpoint, which Eobard Thawne had named this alternate timeline. "So, I can tell from the 'I don't believe you' looks on your faces you don't believe me," Barry says as the others process the information.

"We believe you're a speedster," Wally says. "But you're going to have to explain the part about Flashpoint again."

"Alright," Barry says, walking around the large table in the room, grabbing a marker out of a cup. "This is as simple as I can put it—I'm gonna use this glass Mr. Ramon." I raise my eyebrows at the moniker as Barry starts to draw on a glass wall. "Imagine this line is time," Barry draws a long line before looking back at Iris and Wally. "Okay, I went back in time—stopped the Reverse Flash from killing my mom, creating an alternate time in doing so—a whole new existence where you're Kid Flash—"

" _The_ Flash," Wally tries to correct him.

" _Kid_ Flash," I, Cisco, and Iris all say.

"Cisco's a billionaire," Barry continues.

"So you're saying there's a timeline out there where I'm not rich," Cisco says, tossing a stress ball back and forth between his hands. "Boy, that's a glitch in the universe."

"No, no, I'm not buying it," Wally says. "My life is my life. It didn't just start three months ago, okay? I've always been me."

"Yeah," Barry says. "I don't know what to tell you Wally…it's complicated."

"Okay, look," Iris says. "Even if we did believe you…why are you telling us this now?"

"Because," Barry shakes his head, running a gloved hand over his hair. "I've been hiding here too long. The Rival needs to be stopped. I stop the bad guys and we can all take him down together."

"I can get him myself," Wally says defensively.

"Then why haven't you?" I ask. Wally turns back to look at me…not sure what to say.

"And what is your bit in this?" Cisco says to me. I swivel the chair towards him, raising an eyebrow. "What? Are you two like a time-traveling Bonnie and Clyde?"

I shake my head. "No, I'm just like all of you guys," I say. "Three months ago though, I woke up with a completely new timeline in my head. It's hard to explain but every time the timeline changes I remember the previous one…along with everything I've lived through in this timeline."

"So you've got like…two different lives in your head?" Wally says.

"Actually I think it's up to like seven," I look pointedly at Barry. "I've lost track of how many timelines I have in my head now…"

"Well, I'm not interested," Cisco says, standing up from his chair. "I don't know how many times I gotta tell you freaks I already did my bit for Queen and country." He pulls out a phone, looking at it.

Barry looks to me, suddenly thinking of something. "Wait, we're missing something…" He snaps his fingers together and points at me. "Where is Caitlin Snow in this timeline? You said you were still roommates with her? Did you keep up with her?"

"Um, yeah, sort of," I say. "She's an ophthalmologist here in Central City-"

Before I can finish, Barry runs out of the lab, returning a second later with a very confused Caitlin Snow. "Woah," she says, trying to steady herself. She looks around at all of us. "What just hap- wait, Elizabeth? Is that you?"

"Yeah, um-"

"Stop bringing strangers into my lab!" Cisco yells at Barry. "Who is this?" He points at Caitlin who was backing away from everyone.

"This is Dr. Caitlin Snow," Barry says. "In my timeline she's a part of our team."

"Did you just—You just kidnapped this woman," Cisco says.

"No, I didn't—Well, yeah…I guess I did…" Barry says. I stand up from the chair I was in and walk over to stand by Caitlin. "She's a scientist…we need her."

"I'm not a scientist," Caitlin says, looking from me to Barry.

"You're not…a scientist?" Barry says, looking from me to Caitlin.

"I'm an ophthalmologist," Caitlin says.

"Told you…" I mutter to Barry.

"A pediatric eye doctor," She says, smiling.

"And…we're done," Cisco says.

"Can I talk to you…Barry?" I say. "In private?"

"Uh…yeah. Um—" I give Caitlin a sympathetic look before walking out of the room, Barry following behind me. "Look, I'm sorry, I know I just threw all this out there but—"

"Stop-" I stop about halfway down the hallway and turn on Barry, holding a hand up. My emotions were running a million miles a minute. "Why would—what possessed you to—what is all this," I wave a hand in the air, motioning at his suit. "Where did all this come from? Huh? I thought we were happy…you were glad not to be the Flash?"

"I know, I know," Barry says. He steps closer to me, placing his hands on my arms. "I was—am happy. But my memories, they're—"

"Disappearing?" I say without even thinking about it.

"Yeah, how did you—"

"I don't know," I shake my head. "I don't know how I knew I just did. Earlier, before you brought me here, I had this pain…I don't know I can't describe it. But Barry, I don't think—"

"Hey," Cisco comes out in the hallway and points back towards the lab. "We got something." Barry looks at me for a moment before turning to follow him. When we're back in the lab, we follow Cisco over to Caitlin who was sitting at a computer. "Turns out kiddie eye doc actually had a good idea."

"I have always wondered why no one turned the speed cameras in the city to register near sonic velocities," Caitlin says. I hold back a groan…back to science talk that I couldn't understand. "Seems like a ready-built early warning system."

"So I reprogrammed the cameras," Cisco says to Barry. He turns back to Caitlin and presses a button on the keyboard. The screen moves around the city until it lands on a spot on the outskirts of town. "Babadook. There's your Rival; at the old sawmill on Williamson."

"Alright," Barry says. "Follow my lead." He says to Wally.

Wally gives Barry a derisive look. "The Flash doesn't follow anyone."

"Listen to him Wally," Iris says, walking closer to look at the computer. "He's the Flash."

"You know," Caitlin says looking up at Cisco. "You'd make an excellent candidate for Lasik."

Cisco gives her an incredulous look. Wally runs out of the room, coming back a second later with his suit on. Before they leave, Barry walks over to me and gives me a hard kiss. I don't even have time to reciprocate before he's speeding out of the room with Wally.

* * *

"His vitals are low and he's lost a lot of blood," Caitlin says, looking down at Wally. Even through the bandage, the wound the Rival had given him was visible, still bleeding.

"I don't get it," Iris says, worry all over her face for her brother. "He should be rapidly healing."

Caitlin looks at her in confusion. "It's one of the gifts of being a speedster." Barry explains.

"He's not, I'm sorry." Caitlin says softly. She looks around the room timidly, not sure what to do. "Am I free to go?"

"Yeah," I say. "Thank you Caitlin," I say as she starts to the door. "I'll call you tomorrow and try to explain." She gives me a small smile before leaving.

"This is why I didn't want to get involved," Cisco says. He had a blank expression on his face, trying to hide his emotions. "Crime fighting sucks." He also leaves the room.

"I thought I could just make things better," Barry says, looking down at Wally. "But everyone's just been paying for my happiness." I rub at my temple; I could feel a massive migraine coming on. Barry turns to look at me and I quickly hide my discomfort. "Will you help me?"

"Yeah," I say. "Do what though?"

"Make things right," he says. It takes me a second but I finally catch on to what he means. He walks around Wally's bed towards Iris. He reaches down and pulls her into a hug. She reciprocates, but gives me a confused look over his shoulder. After a moment, he lets her go and walks over to me. Barry gives Wally one last look before we're racing through Central City, coming to a stop in front of his parent's house. Neither one of us say anything, instead he just locks hands with me and heads to the front door. When we go inside, Nora and Henry are sitting on the couch, looking at magazine together. "Hey guys," Barry says to them.

"Hey kids," Nora says, folding up the magazine and sitting it on the coffee table.

"Hey slugger," Henry says, standing up from the couch. He looks at me and then at Barry. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," Barry says, emotion already in his voice. "I just wanted to see you guys one last time."

"What does that mean?" Henry asks. Him and Nora both look at Barry concerned.

"Nothing," Barry says, shaking his head and looking down. "Nothing, I-" They both step closer to Barry, who looks back at me for a moment before looking back at his parents. "These past three months have been the best. Just, getting to spent time with you. I just wanted you to know how grateful I am to both of you…to be your son."

Nora looks at Barry, she could tell something was off. "Barry, you're scaring me."

"No, no, there's nothing to be afraid of," I say, stepping up beside Barry. Barry looks down at me and I share a look with him. "We just…" Barry nods his head at me, silently telling me to go ahead with whatever story I was coming up with. It had to make this whole thing easier. "I have been offered a job at Cambridge, where I did my doctoral studies." We both turn to look back at Nora and Henry, who visibly looked less concerned. "I have an interview, tomorrow, so we're leaving today—the flight is in a couple hours. And um…we're going to look at houses over there. We just um…"

"Just wanted to tell you guys," Barry says. "Wanted to see you before we left."

"Well that's wonderful news," Nora says, stepping forward to give me and Barry both a hug. "Why would you two make it sound like-"

"We're sorry," I say. "But I just want you to know that I love both of you." Now I was the one getting emotional. "And thank you, for making me feel like family." Henry and Nora both step forward and give me a hug.

When they pull away, Barry steps forward and gives them both a hug. "I love you both," he says. They return the sentiment as he pulls away. "We, uh—we better get going." We all share another round of hugs before me and Barry finally leave the house.

Outside, as we're walking down the stairs, Barry suddenly starts to fall and panting. "Barry, hey—" I grab underneath his arm to try and support him. His eyes looked like they were lost in a memory for a second before focusing on me. "Are you okay?"

He nods his head. "It's getting worse," he says. "We have to hurry before it's too late."

I help him stand up, trying to ignore the growing pounding in my head. Barry runs us to an abandoned factory on the edge of town. When he stops, he's breathing heavily and can barely stand. We walk inside, me trying to hold Barry up. "Having a bad day, Barr?" Eobard Thawne calls out. I hadn't actually been here to see him, but Barry had told me he was keeping him here. As we near him, Barry stands up straight and Eobard looks at me. "Oh…well, if it isn't you…"

I raise an eyebrow at him but shake my head. We didn't have time for whatever he was referring to. "I'm not listening to you Thawne."

"Oh, but you should…I am the answer man." Thawne taunts. Barry sits down on a box and I stumble back against a box myself, my head raging in pain now. "I am the answer to all your prayers. Just ask me Barry…ask me and the pain stops for you both…"

Barry notices me, sitting on the ground holding my head between my hands. "Elizabeth, hey—hey, what's going on?" he asks, crouching down in front of me.

"My. Head." I gasp out.

"We need to go back in time," Barry says, looking back up at Thawne. "To that night."

"To do what?" Thawne taunts. He knew the answer…he was just being an ass.

"You know what I need you to do." Barry says.

"Yeah, but I want to hear you say it," Thawne says.

I'm able to look up at Barry as he looks at Thawne. Hate was pouring from every pore on Barry's face. "I need you to kill my mother."

Thawne smiles evilly at Barry. "With pleasure."

"I hate you," Barry says as he stands up.

"And I hate you," Thawne spits back. "And I sometimes wonder which of us is right."

Barry undoes the lock on the cage and lets Thawne out. He hands the evil speedster something, but I don't register what it is. When he walks past him, Barry crouches back down to me. "Hey, Elizabeth, it's going to be alright. I'm gonna make this right…"

I nod my head. "I love you Barry," I say, still clutching at my head. "I'm sorry you have to-"

"No, no, hey, don't apologize," Barry says. He gently places his hands on each side of my neck before kissing my forehead. I remove my hands from my head and slip the engagement ring off my finger and hold it out to Barry. "What-"

"Take this," I say. "Give it to me. Wherever I am in the timeline when you restore it…give it back to me."

Barry nods his head as he takes the ring and slips it into his pocket. He presses one more kiss to my forehead before standing up. My eyes shut as I hear his footsteps retreat. Him and Thawne each say something to each other before I hear the sound of them running and then pass out.

* * *

As I wake up…I wish for nothing more than to go back to sleep. When I sit up in bed though, all the previous timelines come rushing back to me. I look around my room and everything was back to how it was before Flashpoint…I was still in my same apartment, same everything. There was only one, big, huge difference though…

* * *

The next day when I get home from work, I head straight for the kitchen and pour myself a glass of whiskey. This had become my new normal the past few months but I _really_ needed it today. I stand there, sipping at the brown liquid and wait. I was actually a little shocked he hadn't been to see me yet; maybe someone had already told him. It takes about twenty minutes until I see the familiar yellow lighting zooming into the kitchen. "Elizabeth," Barry says, relief washing over him when he sees me. I continue to stare at him with a cold, hard look. His face turns from relief to confusion. "What's wrong? What-"

"I see you restored the timeline," I say. My voice was flat, remaining even. He nods his head as I throw the rest of my drink to the back of my throat. "Congratulations."

"Yeah, there's already…Iris and Joe they aren't talking and Cisco, I just…" Barry says. "I—when Thawne ran me back he said things had changed for me but I didn't think…"

I shake my head, letting out a humorless chuckle as I set the empty tumbler in the sink. "Yeah, Barry…you mess with the timeline and that tends to happen…" I wasn't hiding my anger from him at all and he could tell.

"Elizabeth, what—" He takes a step towards me and then stops. "Why are you…are you mad at me?"

"Am I-?" I clench my fist and unclench them before running my fingers through my hair. "Yeah, I'm mad at you Barry Allen. You want to know why?" Barry looks at me helplessly. "Because up until right now I hadn't talked to you in months. You want to know why?"

"Oh God," Barry says, dread filling his face. "Elizabeth, I-"

"You broke up with me Barry!" I yell at him. Barry's face falls as his eyes start rimming with tears. "After the Turtle kidnapped me and I confronted you about being the Flash, you broke up with me!" Barry starts to say something but I cut him off. "Even after Zoom kidnapped me for your speed—yeah, that still happened—you still wouldn't have anything to do with me! Iris, Joe, Cisco? They all stopped talking to me because _you_ told them to! _You_ told them it was for the best! Caitlin was the only talking to me but she couldn't even mention you because up until last night every time I heard your name my heart would break all over again and that was the hell _you_ put me through Barry Allen!"

Tears were running down Barry's face. "Elizabeth, please, I-"

"Get out," I cut him off. He starts to say something again but I yell at him. " _Get out!"_ He stands there, looking at me helplessly. I shake my head at him as he just stares at me. I cross my arms over my chest as I start to walk out of the kitchen. Before I leave, I stop and give him one last icy stare. "And you can keep that damn ring."


	17. You All Deserve That Choice

It's another two days before I hear from Barry again. Or, rather, another two days before he grabs me from my apartment and runs me to S.T.A.R. Labs with no warning. "What the hell, Barry?" I say once he lets me go. He gives me an apologetic look as I look around the Cortex. Everyone was there: Joe, Iris, Wally, Cisco, and Caitlin. They all give me and Barry equally confused looks.

"I need to tell you all something," Barry says. I let out a sigh as I cross my arms over my chest. "The truth."

"The truth about what?" Iris asks him.

"Okay, uh—" I move away from Barry and go to stand next to Caitlin. "After Zoom killed my dad, after we defeated him, um…I wasn't in a great space and I felt the only way I could fix that was to run back in time and save my mom."

"You stopped the Reverse Flash from killing your mom?" Caitlin says. I look around at everyone to see them all wearing the same expression towards Barry: shock.

"Yeah," Barry tells her.

"Wait," Wally says. "So, is she alive?"

"She was, for a few months." Barry says. "I lived with her, and my dad, for a few months. I had a completely different life. Me and Elizabeth were—" he stops himself. I was sure he was speaking without thinking. "I wasn't even the Flash for most of it."

"I don't understand…" Wally says. I reach up and rub at my temple…here comes the migraine. "You created a whole other existence…how is that possible?"

Barry scratches at the back of his head before walking over and grabbing the clear board. "Okay, this is the timeline," he draws a line on it, just like he did in Flashpoint. "This is the point in time we exist right now. This past point is where my mom was murdered. So when I saved her, I created a new reality." He draws another line from the past point, extending downwards. "A new timeline. I was living in a-"

"A mirror universe," Cisco says.

Barry nods his head. "It's called a Flashpoint, apparently." I rub at my temple some more. The migraine was growing quicker than it usually did.

"But you decided to leave it." Iris says. "Why?"

"That life started to spin out of control. This guy, Clariss," he points up at a screen showing the photo of Edward Clariss. "Was a speedster there too. He was known as the Rival. He caused a lot of problems so I decided to run back again and let things happen as they were supposed to in hopes of resetting the timeline. But…"

"But what?" Joe asks, walking towards Barry.

"But when I came back…" Barry shakes his head, looking at everyone, his eyes stopping on me. "Things weren't the same."

"You mean people," Caitlin says. "Like us."

"Yeah," Barry nods his head. As he turns back to the board, I notice the red around his eyes starting to grow. He draws another line on the board, underneath the other two. "I created another timeline. The one we're living in now. It's not as different as the last one; not in large ways. But in small ways, uh—meaningful ways for all of you, or anybody that's close to me. And uh," I feel Caitlin turn back to look at me but I keep looking down at the ground. "I can't really ever put it back together."

Everyone looks away from Barry, trying to process the information. "Did you know?" I hear Caitlin say. I look up from the ground to see her looking at me. "You usually retain the timeline in your mind…did you-"

"Yeah," I say quickly. I wipe away at the tears that had escaped. "When I woke up a couple days ago...all the past timelines came back to me."

"Barry that's a lot to take in," Joe says.

"Yeah, it is," Barry says.

"We got along in that other life?" Iris says, looking from Joe to Barry. "My dad and I, didn't we? That's why you've been working so hard to get us talking again."

"Okay, so here's the thing," Barry says, a tad bit more confidence in his voice. "I will tell you what's different, all of you, if you want to know. But you have to live with those differences because I can't change it again…but at least you'll know. And you all deserve that choice."

"So you decided it was okay to change things when someone in your family dies," Cisco says, anger rising in his voice. "But when it's someone in my family…" Caitlin reaches out and places a hand on his shoulder but he shakes it off, walking out of the Cortex.

Barry wipes away at tear as he clears his throat. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

When he leaves the Cortex, I grab onto Caitlin's arm, almost falling over. "Elizabeth, are you okay?" Her and Iris both place a hand under my arm, holding me up.

I shake my head. "The migraine…" I say. "It's growing…"

"Come on," Caitlin says. "Let's get you to the med-bay."

I drift in and out of consciousness over the next couple of hours. The migraine was constant, a crippling amount of pain. I would catch Caitlin saying she had no clue what was going on; that all my scans were showing normal levels. I tried to tell her that on top of pain in my head, it felt like my chest was going to explode and that there was this weird tingling sensation all over my body. I kept seeing flashes of red in my vision too. My mouth seemed unable to work though besides letting out the occasional strangled sound of pain.

* * *

 _Barry's POV_

"How's she doing?" I ask Caitlin as I walk into the med-bay. Elizabeth had been down with this migraine for over a day now…none of her past ones had lasted this long.

"I wish I could say," Caitlin says, looking at the latest round of scans with Cisco. "But everything is coming back normal…every time. I just-"

Suddenly, Elizabeth sits straight up in the bed, letting out an ear-piercing scream. I hear Joe and Irish run into the med-bay, asking what was happening. When she stops screaming, Elizabeth opens her eyes wide and they start glowing red. She turns her head sharply to look at all of us and then starts to climb out of the bed. Caitlin and Cisco try to gently push her back down in the bed but as soon as they touch her, her whole body starts to glow red, her hair blowing around like she was in a wind tunnel. All of us start to back out of the med-bay as she advances towards us. We all call out her name, asking her what she was doing, but she doesn't respond. Once she's standing in the middle of the Cortex, the rest of us backed against the computer bay, the Cortex falls silent.

I look from Elizabeth to Caitlin and Cisco, but neither of them seem to know what to do as much as I do. Cautiously, I take a step forward. As I do, the red glow around her disappears. "Elizabeth?" I say, still cautiously. "Elizabeth…what's going on? What's happening?"

Her eyes are still glowing red as a pained look crosses her face. She reaches down and clutches at her chest as a strangled sob falls from her lips. " _Barry…_ " she chokes out, but her voice sounds distant.

"Elizabeth…" I take another step towards her, but stop when she suddenly throws her hands in the air as if to hold me back.

" _Barry…"_ The red glow from her eyes disappears, fear replacing it. She stares at me for a moment before she speaks again, her voice still sounding like she was talking to me through a tunnel. " _Barry…help me!"_ Faster than I could even move, the red glow from earlier returns, so bright I shield my eyes from it. As I do, I hear Elizabeth scream. When I remove my arm from across my eyes, I look to Elizabeth…but she was gone. Instead, all that's left where she stood was a pile of black dust, red smoke rolling from it.

" _No, no, no, no…_ " I look back towards the group standing behind me, all of them staring at the pile of dust in horror. Turning back around, I drop to my knees and start sobbing… _Elizabeth was dead…_

 _The End..._


	18. Epilogue

" _What if she's a bad guy?"_

" _Technically she's be a bad woma-"_

" _She literally appeared in your living room in a poof of red light-"_

" _A 'poof of red light'? Is that going in the official report?"_

" _I have to fill out a report on this?"_

" _Guys, she's waking up,"_ I slowly open my eyes, trying to adjust to the brightness. When they do finally open, I am in a place I don't recognize. "Hey…everything is okay…you're safe…"

I look to the source of the voice to see a girl, probably my age, standing next to the bed I was lying in. She had long blonde hair and was wear a blue uniform with a red 'S' on the chest…there was even a cape hanging down her back. On the other side of the bed was a woman with short brown hair in an all-black utility suit and a guy with short, black hair. All three of them were giving me looks ranging from concern to _what-the-hell-is-this-girl-going-to-do._ "Do you have a name?" The girl in the cape asks.

I look back to her and nod my head. "Um, Elizabeth…Elizabeth Cambridge."

"Really?" she gives me a look like she doesn't quite believe me, crossing her arms over her chest. "Huh…usually you all have different names…not human ones…"

"What are you talking about?" I say. I pull the oxygen tube that was in my nose out as I try to sit up in bed straighter. The blonde places a hand under my elbow to help me. "Where am I and who are you people?"

"I'm Alex Danvers with the DEO," The brunette says in a gentle yet commanding voice. "You appeared in Kara's living room…you're at DEO headquarters now-"

"Wait…" A memory was resurfacing…that name was familiar. "Did you say Kara?" the brunette nods her head. I turn back to look back at the blonde. "You're Kara Danvers…or um, shoot, what did he say your name was…"

Kara gives me a confused look. "Who are you-"

"Zor-el!" I say, finally remembering. "You're Supergirl!"

"How did you know that?" Kara says, looking slightly worried now.

"My um—" I push myself up in the bed. "My boyfriend—or well, I don't really know what he is right now but, he—okay, let me back up. I am from a different universe-"

"Kind of figured that out with the poofing into the living room bit," the guy murmurs under his breath.

Both women give him looks telling him to shut up. "Anyway, my kind-of-maybe-boyfriend-technically-ex accidentally ran to this universe earlier this year…Barry Allen."

"You know Barry?" Kara's face lights up and any hesitation she had before was gone. Alex and the guy seem to think the same thing. "Oh gosh, yeah, you're _Elizabeth._ He told me all about you! How did you get here? Oh! Are you a speedster too?"

I let out a chuckle as I scratch the back of my head "Not quite…" I recount to her everything that had happened right before I disappeared from S.T.A.R. Labs. "I had been getting those migraines for over a year…anytime Barry messed with the timeline. I guess this last time was just too much and…here I am…for whatever reason…"

"Oh," Kara says, looking at me stunned. "I thought that part was obvious." Me, Alex, and the guy they had briefly introduced to me a Winn look at Kara confused. "What…do you not…do you not know you're not human?" My eyes go wide as I start to hyperventilate. "Okay…obviously you didn't—Elizabeth, calm down…everything is going to be alright—"

"What do you mean I'm not human?" I say in between breathes.

"Well, I mean," Kara says. "I could tell as soon as I spotted you…you're from the Existence."

As she says the word, my chest fills with a warmth I had never felt before. " _I'm from where?"_

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** _Y'ALL KNEW_ I wasn't going to kill Elizabeth :) Anyway, this is the final chapter of this story. Fear not though! There is a sequel in the works, aptly named _Existence._ Follow me to receive an update to be notified when I post the first chapter of the sequel! Thank you for reading _I Trust You :) :) :)_


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